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.
 
                                       August 2002             August 2001
                                       Cumulative To           Cumulative To
                                       Date - Final            Date - Final
     Commodity
     Grouping                       Quantity      Value      Quantity     Value
 
Total Selected Commodities          2,429,804   1,373,876   2,236,110   1,469,284
 
Ingots And Steel For Castings           8,284       5,899      15,632       9,454
Blooms, Billets And Slabs             645,879     128,030     355,538      86,078
Structural Shapes Heavy                56,060      19,637     100,358      34,118
Plates Cut Lengths                    163,095      83,910     144,325      94,542
Plates In Coils                        72,627      25,853      57,498      21,369
Rails Standard                          3,013       1,981       2,227       1,264
Bars - Hot Rolled                     444,077     212,927     443,549     229,880
Bars - Light Shaped                    15,249       6,561       8,698       3,499
Bars - Cold Finished                   27,503      34,047      51,424      53,154
Tool Steel                             85,382     114,543      98,884     139,279
Standard Pipe                           8,039      14,728       8,780      12,865
Oil Country Goods                      89,591     107,192     183,446     206,310
Line Pipe>16 Inches In Diameter       108,923      70,309      34,917      20,840
Line Pipe<=16 Inches In Diameter          891       4,420      12,662      10,415
Line Pipe - Not Specified                 (-)         (-)         (-)         (-)
Mechanical Tubing                      68,075      94,100      89,355     108,881
Pressure Tubing                        36,610      76,110      21,688      30,894
Pipe & Tubing Nonclassified             2,815       7,651       1,648       5,918
Structural Pipe & Tube                 16,843      13,637       7,741       7,598
Pipe For Piling                           378         193         310         105
Wire Drawn                             67,885      65,084      53,175      57,247
Sheets Hot Rolled                      66,740      29,453      53,970      27,933
Sheets Cold Rolled                     97,287      45,622     191,121      95,190
Sheets & Strip Galv Hot Dipped        256,781     134,283     181,572      96,840
Sheets & Strip Galv Electrolyt         24,370      19,136      24,455      16,900
Sheets & Strip - Electrical            43,396      28,620      70,683      48,819
Strip - Hot Rolled                      5,547       2,965       3,149       2,164
Strip - Cold Rolled                    14,464      26,985      19,305      47,728
 
CONTACT: For more information, contact Haydn R. Mearkle (301-763-2246) or Nick
         Orsini (301-763-2311), 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."