Not Seasonally Adjusted

      Exhibit 2a.  U.S. Imports For Consumption of Alloy Steel Products: 
                               (Census Basis)

           Quantity in metric tons/value In thousands of dollars.
               Details may not equal totals due to rounding.


                                       April 2001              April 2000
                                       Cumulative To           Cumulative To
                                       Date - Final            Date - Final
     Commodity                                           
     Grouping                      Quantity     Value      Quantity     Value
                                             
Total Selected Commodities        1,046,891     726,831   1,358,922     805,587

Ingots And Steel For Castings         7,111       4,290      10,648       5,784
Blooms, Billets And Slabs           130,821      36,455     242,823      62,049
Structural Shapes Heavy              40,093      13,998      39,416      14,193
Plates Cut Lengths                   56,533      40,710      75,579      44,391
Plates In Coils                      26,684      10,137      38,352      16,035
Rails Standard                        1,204         500       2,637         774
Bars - Hot Rolled                   210,614     111,749     225,895     114,580
Bars - Light Shaped                   3,181       1,353       8,762       3,030
Bars - Cold Finished                 23,496      24,977      18,817      17,142
Tool Steel                           54,207      76,500      54,416      74,264
Standard Pipe                         4,290       5,940       5,983       8,905
Oil Country Goods                    98,528     108,339      44,964      41,983
Line Pipe>16 Inches In Diameter       7,007       3,895      88,309      56,613
Line Pipe<=16 Inches In Diameter      2,240       1,959         237         891
Line Pipe - Not Specified               (-)         (-)          75          57
Mechanical Tubing                    46,679      57,330      29,743      43,771
Pressure Tubing                       9,078      11,413       8,905      11,949
Pipe & Tubing Nonclassified             544       2,009       2,285       3,854
Structural Pipe & Tube                4,058       3,728       1,651       3,013
Pipe For Piling                         310         105      18,238      12,786
Wire Drawn                           25,618      27,820      26,507      28,987
Sheets Hot Rolled                    26,148      13,994      31,432      15,820
Sheets Cold Rolled                  110,182      54,990     144,105      67,025
Sheets & Strip Galv Hot Dipped       92,501      49,397     161,553      88,182
Sheets & Strip Galv Electrolyt       14,062       9,064      30,535      17,172
Sheets & Strip - Electrical          39,680      27,396      35,684      24,759
Strip - Hot Rolled                    1,341         854       1,958       1,304
Strip - Cold Rolled                  10,681      27,929       9,412      26,274

CONTACT: For more information, contact Haydn R. Mearkle (301-457-2246) or Nick
         Orsini (301-457-2311), Foreign Trade Division, U. S. Census Bureau.

NOTE:  For information on more detailed data available, please see record
       titled "MORE DETAILED FOREIGN TRADE DATA  AVAILABLE."