AISI American Iron and Steel Institute : Preliminary Steel Imports Decrease 4.3% in December; Finished Import Market Share YTD at 26% for 2016

News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Lisa Harrison

January 27, 2017 202.452.7115/[e-mail]

PRELIMINARY STEEL IMPORTS DECREASE 4.3% IN DECEMBER

Finished Import Market Share at 26% for 2016

Washington, D.C. - Based on preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that the U.S. imported a total of 2,686,000 net tons (NT) of steel in December 2016, including 2,146,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 4.3% and up 0.6%, respectively, vs. November final data). For the full year 2016, total and finished steel imports are 33,009,000 and 26,327,000 net tons (NT), down 14.9% and 16.4%, respectively, compared to full year 2015. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 26% in December and is estimated at 26% for full year 2016.

Key finished steel products with significant import increases in December compared to November include oil country goods (up 55%), line pipe (up 38%), sheets and strip all other metallic coated (up 27%), tin plate (up 24%), sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 14%) and hot rolled bars (up 11%). Tin plate (up 15%) had a significant increase in 2016 vs. the prior year.

Steel Mill Product	Dec. 2016 (prelim.)	Nov. 2016 final	% var Dec. vs. Nov.	2016 Full Year	2015 Full Year	% var 2016 vs 2015
Ingots and Billets and Slabs	537,366 669,777		-19.8%	6,648,625	7,262,568	-8.5%
Sheets & Strip Galv. Hot Dipped	304,930 267,504		14.0%	3,096,477	3,360,040	-7.8%
Sheets Hot Rolled	163,012 184,788		-11.8%	2,900,012	3,877,039	-25.2%
Sheets Cold Rolled	222,421 294,956		-24.6%	2,536,762	2,684,714	-5.5%
Bars - Reinforcing	142,373 138,856		2.5%	2,109,494	2,007,151	5.1%
Wire Rods	102,312 103,663		-1.3%	1,593,615	1,590,054	0.2%
Line Pipe	125,566 91,001		38.0%	1,370,495	2,545,919	-46.2%
Plates in Coils	122,418 149,087		-17.9%	1,340,487	2,005,396	-33.2%
Plates Cut Lengths	47,387 69,944		-32.2%	1,227,925	1,549,385	-20.7%
Bars - Hot Rolled	115,784 104,584		10.7%	1,186,066	1,489,514	-20.4%
Oil Country Goods	166,297 107,064		55.3%	1,152,372	2,245,587	-48.7%
Sheets & Strip All Other Met. Ctd.	99,495 78,533		26.7%	1,033,663	1,055,510	-2.1%
Tin Plate	94,237 75,961		24.1%	886,955	770,598	15.1%
Wire Drawn	62,627 70,750		-11.5%	883,987	889,511	-0.6%
Structural Shapes Heavy	57,789 58,963		-2.0%	875,711	908,898	-3.7%
Standard Pipe	64,265 68,388		-6.0%	835,329	1,024,875	-18.5%
Structural Pipe & Tubing	51,190 54,160		-5.5%	530,604	506,235	4.8%
All Other	206,174 217,786		-5.3%	2,800,313	3,014,370	-7.1%
TOTAL	2,685,643 2,805,766		-4.3%	33,008,891	38,787,366	-14.9%
SUBTOTAL Finished Imports	2,146,091 2,133,563		0.6%	26,327,188	31,493,221	-16.4%

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In December, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (264,000 NT, down 3% from November final), Turkey (154,000 NT, down 17%), Taiwan (147,000 NT, up 71%), Japan (115,000 NT, up 15%) and Germany (86,000 NT, down 0.4%). For full year 2016, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (3,805,000 NT, down 22% vs. the same period in 2015), Turkey (2,415,000 NT, down 14%), Japan (1,798,000

NT, down 20%), Germany (1,192,000 NT, down 21%), Taiwan (1,083,000 NT, down 10%), Vietnam (960,000 NT, up 332%) and China (862,000 NT, down 64%). Below are charts on estimated steel import market share in recent months and on finished steel imports from offshore by country.

U.S. IMPORTS OF FINISHED STEEL MILL PRODUCTS
BY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN
(thousands of net tons)
Dec.	Nov.	% incr.	% incr.
COUNTRY	2016	2016	Dec.	2016	2015	2016
(Prelim.)	final	vs. Nov.	Full Year	Full Year	vs. 2015
South Korea	264	272	-3.1%	3,805	4,854	-21.6%
Turkey 154 185 -16.5% 2,415 2,823 -14.4%
Japan	115	100	14.7%	1,798	2,259	-20.4%
Germany	86	87	-0.4%	1,192	1,515	-21.3%
Taiwan 147 86 71.1% 1,083 1,205 -10.1%
Vietnam	57	120	-52.8%	960	222	332.2%
China 63 57 9.6% 862 2,374 -63.7%
All Other	1,261	1,227	2.8%	14,212	16,241	-12.5%
Total 2,146 2,134 0.6% 26,327 31,493 -16.4%

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U.S. IMPORTS OF FINISHED STEEL MILL PRODUCTS
3 MONTHS ROLLING AVERAGE
(thousands of net tons)
Product	Preliminary	Actual	Current 3 Months
	3 Mos. Rolling Avg.	3 Mos. Prior	vs 3 Months Prior
	Dec. '16 - Oct. '16	Sep. '16 - Jul '16	% Change
Sheets & Strip Galv. Hot Dipped	296	261	13.1%
Sheets Cold Rolled	253	234	8.1%
Sheets Hot Rolled	190	274	-30.8%
Oil Country Goods	142	89	60.2%
Bars - Reinforcing	133	227	-41.6%
Plates in Coils	130	115	13.1%
Wire Rods	119	138	-14.0%
Bars - Hot Rolled	106	96	10.3%
Line Pipe	105	106	-0.6%
Sheets & Strip All Other Met. Ctd.	87	99	-12.0%
All Other	619	684	-9.5%
Total	2,178	2,323	-6.2%

U.S. IMPORTS OF FINISHED STEEL MILL PRODUCTS
3 MONTHS ROLLING AVERAGE
(thousands of net tons)
Country	Preliminary	Actual	Current 3 Months
	3 Mos. Rolling Avg.	3 Mos. Prior	vs 3 Months Prior
	Dec. '16 - Oct. '16	Sep. '16 - Jul '16	% Change
South Korea	271	350	-22.6%
Turkey	187	219	-14.6%
Japan	121	189	-36.3%
Germany	84	109	-23.3%
Taiwan	109	121	-9.5%
Vietnam	96	96	-0.4%
China	62	75	-17.5%
Brazil	56	54	4.1%
Netherlands	80	72	11.1%
Italy	39	44	-11.3%
All Other	1,074	993	8.1%
Total	2,178	2,323	-6.2%

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5.0

4.5

4.0

Millions of Net Tons

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

Monthly Imports 2016 vs. 2015

Finished Semi-finished

'15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16 '15 '16

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Semi-finished	0.8	0.4	0.8	0.2	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.8	0.6	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.6	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.3	0.5
Finished	3.6	2.2	2.9	2.1	3.2	2.1	3.0	2.0	2.8	2.1	2.5	2.3	2.6	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.2	2.1	2.3	2.3	2.0	2.1	2.0	2.1

% change finished imports December 2016 vs December 2015 = +5.4%

3 Month Rolling Averages and 2016 vs. 2015

Finished Semi-finished

3 Mos. Prior Rolling Avg.			3 Mos. Rolling Avg.		2015		2016*
Semi-finished	0.710			0.556		7.292		6.682
Finished	2.323			2.178		31.493		26.327

45

Millions of Net Tons

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

% change finished imports 3 Mos. Rolling Avg. vs. 3 Mos. Prior = -6.2%

% change semi-finished imports 2016 vs 2015 = -8.4%

% change finished imports 2016 vs 2015 = -16.4%