Exhibit 2B:  U.S. Imports for Consumption of Stainless Steel
Products:  (Census Basis)
Not Seasonally Adjusted

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

                                August 2008             August 2007
                                Cumulative to           Cumulative to
                                Date - Final            Date - Final
Commodity
Grouping                        Quantity    Value       Quantity    Value

Total Selected Commodities           707,149   3,553,871     804,725   4,022,609

Ingots And Steel For Castings         14,305      56,406      12,721      54,978
Blooms, Billets And Slabs             72,309     337,438      78,392     400,670
Wire Rods                             16,720      76,232      18,478      90,424
Structural Shapes Heavy                1,845      10,054       2,254      13,425
Plates Cut Lengths                    43,781     222,835      63,690     372,304
Plates In Coils                       18,413      89,571      37,909     219,093
Bars - Hot Rolled                     23,020     134,222      20,511     111,556
Bars - Light Shaped                    5,983      31,183       3,802      20,087
Bars - Cold Finished                  57,542     343,595      58,474     329,040
Oil Country Goods                     30,063     110,971      52,778     150,865
Line Pipe > 16 Inches In Diamete          72         487          29         170
Line Pipe <= 16 Inches In Diamet       2,782      16,819      22,541      24,782
Line Pipe - Not Specified                253       1,885      20,154      19,231
Stainless Pipe & Tubing               85,771     734,551     111,659     815,894
Wire Drawn                            27,332     173,815      29,372     191,960
Sheets Hot Rolled                     21,814      46,762      12,345      29,848
Sheets Cold Rolled                   253,846   1,007,037     232,283   1,023,669
Strip - Hot Rolled                     1,417       6,802       2,236       9,367
Strip - Cold Rolled                   29,881     153,206      25,096     145,246
                                           

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 Maria Iseman
(301-763-2311), Foreign Trade Division, U.S. Census Bureau.

SOURCE:  U.S. Imports for Consumption of Steel Products: Preliminary
September 2008 (CB-08-158)