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
                                           

                                      December 2005             December 2004
                                      Cumulative to             Cumulative to
                                      Date - Final              Date - Final
Commodity
Grouping                        Quantity    Value       Quantity    Value

Total Selected Commodities         4,295,770   4,541,753   3,737,124   2,993,238

Ingots And Steel For Castings         32,027      28,524      17,429      12,937
Blooms, Billets And Slabs            800,206     510,933     641,204     289,182
Structural Shapes Heavy              130,494      79,971      95,367      57,763
Plates Cut Lengths                   352,128     467,601     296,444     267,812
Plates In Coils                      138,302      93,790     118,719      77,465
Rails Standard                        31,794      21,320      42,089      23,170
Bars - Hot Rolled                    774,089     619,206     733,524     488,741
Bars - Light Shaped                   23,426      14,068      15,951       9,714
Bars - Cold Finished                 138,558     174,932      72,294      92,828
Tool Steel                           191,679     466,244     162,692     271,032
Standard Pipe                         16,442      36,655      12,515      18,052
Oil Country Goods                    390,239     617,522     290,651     338,084
Line Pipe > 16 inches in diamete     180,381     210,216     191,830     130,282
Line Pipe <= 16 inches in diamet       1,701       2,246      11,053       9,386
Line Pipe - Not Specified              1,342       3,037         (-)         (-)
Mechanical Tubing                    134,296     226,162     114,315     133,697
Pressure Tubing                       31,830      77,225      31,015      48,656
Pipe & Tubing Nonclassified            4,037      16,637       4,577      15,731
Structural Pipe & Tube                19,711      35,613      17,532      29,195
Pipe For Piling                        2,567       2,411       2,099       1,400
Wire Drawn                            97,894     137,395     107,290     125,979
Sheets Hot Rolled                    202,108     152,137     170,567     101,583
Sheets Cold Rolled                   183,430     152,304     167,338     120,977
Sheets & Strip Galv Hot Dipped       247,432     166,877     270,642     161,249
Sheets & Strip Galv Electrolyt        53,135      47,518      38,753      32,823
Sheets & Strip - Electrical           74,916     100,436      78,641      70,424
Strip - Hot Rolled                     8,215       4,627       7,071       3,880
Strip - Cold Rolled                   33,394      76,146      25,523      61,195
                                           
NOTE:   See the cover report specifically explaining the current month's preliminary 
steel imports trade data or
www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/steel_index.html.

CONTACT:  For more information, contact Nick Orsini (301-763-6959) or Vanessa Ware
(301-763-2311), Foreign Trade Division, U.S. Census Bureau.

SOURCE:  U.S. Imports for Consumption of Steel Products: Preliminary
January 2006 (CB-06-29)