January 25, 2001

Newly released preliminary government figures covering steel imports for the month of December show that steel imports decreased 3 percent from November 2000 levels.

Total Steel Mill Products

The preliminary data released today show that overall steel imports in December 2000 decreased 3 percent compared to November 2000. The decrease in December's imports was due primarily to a decrease in imports of finished steel products, particularly hot rolled steel. December imports of finished steel products fell 10 percent compared to November, while imports of semi-finished steel rose 37 percent.

December 2000 imports of steel mill products were down 28 percent compared to December 1999. December 2000 imports of finished steel products were down 23 percent compared to December 1999 while semifinished steel imports were down 42 percent.

Imports of overall steel mill products during 2000 are up 6 percent compared to 1999. January through December 2000 imports of semifinished steel were down 1 percent compared to1999. Finished steel imports in 2000 were up 8 percent compared to 1999.

Hot-Rolled Steel

December 2000 imports of hot-rolled steel decreased 13 percent compared November 2000. December 2000 imports of hot-rolled steel were down 54 percent compared to December 1999. Imports of these products in 2000 are up 14 percent compared to 1999.

Cold-Rolled Steel

December 2000 imports of cold-rolled steel decreased 15 percent compared to November 2000. December 2000 imports of cold-rolled steel were down 18 percent compared to December 1999. Imports of these products during 2000 are down 15 percent compared to 1999.

Cut-to-Length Plate

December 2000 imports of cut-to-length plate decreased 47 percent compared to November 2000. December 2000 imports are down 29 percent compared to December 1999. Imports of these products in 2000 are up 8 percent compared to1999.

Corrosion-Resistant Steel

December 2000 imports of corrosion-resistant steel increased 17 percent compared to November 2000. Imports of these products in 2000 are down 10 percent compared to1999.

Wire Rod

December 2000 imports of wire rod increased 24 percent compared to November 2000. Imports of these products in 2000 are up 7 percent compared to1999.

Heavy Structurals

December 2000 imports of heavy structurals decreased 37 percent compared to November 2000. Imports of these products in 2000 are up 36 percent compared to 1999.

Rebar

December 2000 imports of rebar decreased 17 percent compared to November 2000. Imports of these products in 2000 are down 9 percent compared to 1999. These products are the subject of current antidumping and countervailing duty investigations.

Hot-Rolled Bar

December 2000 imports of hot-rolled bar decreased 17 percent compared to November 2000. Imports of these products in 2000 are up 16 percent compared to1999.

Standard Pipe

December 2000 imports of standard pipe decreased 10 percent compared to November 2000. Imports of these products in 2000 are up 48 percent compared to 1999.

Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG)

December 2000 imports of OCTG increased 8 percent compared to November 2000. Imports of these products during 2000 are up 321 percent compared to 1999.

Semifinished Steel

December 2000 imports of semifinished steel increased 37 percent compared to November 2000. Imports of these products during 2000 are down 1 percent compared to 1999. Imports of these products are used by U.S. steel companies to produce finished products.

These figures are being provided on an expedited basis and will continue to be released on this schedule each month, consistent with the President's Steel Action Program of August 1999 and the Report to the President on Global Steel Trade of July 2000. The data released today are preliminary and are likely to change somewhat between now and the release of the final December statistics next month. January preliminary figures will be released on February 23, 2001.

Note: Census issued revisions to certain country totals within product categories for 1998 and the first six months of 1999. Only individual country totals within certain product categories were affected by these revisions, the grand totals for these product categories were not affected. These revisions have been incorporated into this fact sheet and the accompanying data tables. Detailed reports containing the 1998 and January to June 1999 revisions are available on the Census Bureau web site.