AISI American Iron and Steel Institute : Steel Imports Up 15% in 2017

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 26, 2018

CONTACT Lisa Harrison 202.452.7115/[e-mail]

STEEL IMPORTS UP 15% IN 2017

Finished Import Market Share Increased to 27%

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 2,446,000 net tons (NT) of steel in December 2017, including 1,877,000 net tons (NT) of finished steel (down 11.4% and 13.5%, respectively, vs. November final data). For the full year of 2017, total and finished steel imports are 38,121,000 and 29,558,000 net tons (NT), up 15.4% and 12.2%, respectively, compared to full year 2016. Finished steel import market share was an estimated 22% in December and is estimated at 27% for full year 2017.

Major products with significant increases for full year 2017 vs. 2016 include oil country goods (up 196%), line pipe (up 63%), standard pipe (up 40%), mechanical tubing (up 30%), hot rolled bars (up 23%), cold rolled sheets (up 16%), sheets and strip all other metallic coatings (up 14%) and sheets and strip hot dipped galvanized (up 10%).

Dec.	Nov.	% var	% var
2017	2017	Dec. vs.	2017	2016	2017
Steel Mill Product	(prelim.)	final	Nov.	vs 2016
Ingots and Billets and Slabs	564,150	587,484	-4.0%	8,517,872	6,650,028	28.1%
Sheets & Strip Galv Hot Dipped	208,177	256,708	-18.9%	3,421,172	3,098,065	10.4%
Oil Country Goods	207,927	275,615	-24.6%	3,415,069	1,152,496	196.3%
Sheets Cold Rolled	205,488	187,481	9.6%	2,932,204	2,537,075	15.6%
Line Pipe	135,947	162,955	-16.6%	2,234,907	1,371,660	62.9%
Sheets Hot Rolled	153,832	168,617	-8.8%	2,129,384	2,900,012	-26.6%
Wire Rods	83,927	80,231	4.6%	1,581,077	1,593,615	-0.8%
Bars - Reinforcing	52,238	60,304	-13.4%	1,565,756	2,109,511	-25.8%
Bars - Hot Rolled	108,457	143,485	-24.4%	1,453,048	1,186,085	22.5%
Plates in Coils	102,157	135,037	-24.3%	1,365,316	1,340,487	1.9%
Sheets & Strip All Other Met. Ctd.	39,647	63,270	-37.3%	1,173,623	1,033,663	13.5%
Standard Pipe	74,852	81,506	-8.2%	1,165,046	835,329	39.5%
Tin Plate	78,894	86,309	-8.6%	941,400	886,955	6.1%
Structural Shapes Heavy	53,665	38,343	40.0%	859,808	875,765	-1.8%
Wire Drawn	61,950	63,244	-2.0%	856,494	890,520	-3.8%
Plates Cut Lengths	51,923	66,377	-21.8%	828,010	1,227,971	-32.6%
Mechanical Tubing	50,855	47,589	6.9%	669,641	515,558	29.9%
211,613	257,261	-17.7%	3,011,590	2,816,706	6.9%
						All Other
2,445,700	2,761,817	-11.4%	38,121,418	33,021,501	15.4%
						TOTAL
SUBTOTAL Finished Imports	1,877,378	2,169,580	-13.5%	29,557,959	26,338,393	12.2%

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In December, the largest volumes of finished steel imports from offshore were from South Korea (192,000 NT, down 10% from November final), Germany (105,000 NT, down 26%), Brazil (96,000 NT, down 2%), Japan (81,000

NT, down 29%) and Turkey (58,000 NT, down 13%). For full year 2017, the largest offshore suppliers were South Korea (3,753,000 NT, down 2% vs. the same period in 2016), Turkey (2,191,000 NT, down 9%), Japan (1,504,000

NT, down 16%), Germany (1,405,000 NT, up 18%) and Taiwan (1,245,000 NT, up 15%). 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	2017	2017	Dec.	2017	2016	2017
(Prelim.)	final	vs. Nov.	vs. '16
South Korea	192	213	-10.2%	3,753	3,812	-1.5%
Turkey	58	67	-13.1%	2,191	2,416	-9.3%
Japan	81	115	-29.3%	1,504	1,798	-16.4%
Germany	105	141	-25.7%	1,405	1,192	17.9%
Taiwan	41	55	-25.9%	1,245	1,083	14.9%
Brazil	96	98	-1.8%	987	823	20.0%
China	53	62	-14.9%	813	862	-5.7%
Russia	34	38	-11.9%	796	310	156.9%
All Other	1,218	1,380	-11.7%	16,864	14,043	20.1%
Total	1,877	2,170	-13.5%	29,558	26,338	12.2%
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U.S. IMPORTS OF FINISHED STEEL MILL PRODUCTS 3 MONTHS ROLLING AVERAGE (thousands of net tons)
Product	Preliminary 3 Mos. Rolling Avg. Dec. '17 - Oct. '17	Actual 3 Mos. Prior Sep. '17 - Jul. '17	Current 3 Months vs 3 Months Prior % Change
Oil Country Goods Sheets & Strip Galv. Hot Dipped Sheets Cold Rolled	274 243 215	329 300 257	-16.7% -19.2% -16.1%
Line Pipe Sheets Hot Rolled Bars - Hot Rolled	184 167 128	238 198 117	-22.8% -15.7% 9.6%
Plates in Coils Wire Rods Tin Plate	125 95 83	111 126 79	12.9% -24.4% 5.1%
Standard Pipe All Other	83 603	103 771	-19.8% -21.8%
Total	2,200	2,629	-16.3%

U.S. IMPORTS OF FINISHED STEEL MILL PRODUCTS 3 MONTHS ROLLING AVERAGE (thousands of net tons)
Country	Preliminary 3 Mos. Rolling Avg. Dec. '17 - Oct. '17	Actual 3 Mos. Prior Sep. '17 - Jul. '17	Current 3 Months vs 3 Months Prior % Change
South Korea Germany Brazil	266 134 96	343 134 90	-22.4% 0.2% 6.5%
Japan Turkey Taiwan	90 79 73	145 161 121	-38.3% -50.7% -39.5%
Netherlands China Vietnam	70 58 48	61 73 66	14.1% -20.2% -27.5%
Russia All Other	47 1,241	86 1,351	-45.5% -8.1%
Total	2,200	2,629	-16.3%

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Monthly Imports 2017 vs. 2016

FinishedSemi-finished

4.5

MillionsofNetTons

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

Semi-finishedFinished

0.4 0.5

0.2 0.6

0.5 0.9

0.4 0.8

0.8 0.9

0.6 0.9

0.8 0.6

0.7 0.9

0.7 0.6

0.5 0.6

0.7 0.6

2.2

0.5 0.6

2.3

2.1

2.1

2.1

2.5

2.0

2.5

2.1

2.6

2.3

3.0

2.5

2.9

2.4

2.5

2.1

2.5

2.3

2.6

2.1

% change finished imports December 2017 vs December 2016 = -13.0%

2.2

2.2

1.9

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AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 20 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and approximately 120 associate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. For more news about steel and its applications, view AISI's website atwww.steel.org.Follow AISI onFacebook or Twitter(@AISISteel).

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