U.S. Census Bureau News



U.S. Department of Commerce . Washington, DC 20230





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

10:00 A.M. EDT TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009



For information contact:

CB09-146, FT-900A (08-09)

Nick Orsini

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Maria Iseman

(301) 763-2311







Preliminary: U.S. Imports for Consumption of Steel Products

August 2009

  



The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that preliminary August steel imports were $0.8 billion (0.8 million metric tons) compared to the preliminary July totals of $1.0 billion (0.9 million metric tons).     

	

The August change in steel imports based on metric tonnage reflected a decrease primarily in line pipe greater than 16 inches in diameter. Monthly decreases occurred primarily with Japan and Mexico.

   

The year to date final statistics through July 2009 showed steel imports of 8.7 million metric tons compared to 17.1 million metric tons through July 2008. The largest commodity decrease was in blooms, billets, and slabs. The largest country decrease was with Canada.  

  





Notes:



The data in this report are preliminary and subject to revisions.



Analysis of recent months for steel product imports indicates the value of preliminary data should equal about 96 percent of the final value reported in the regular monthly trade statistics report.  Preliminary data reported for individual steel categories and at the individual country of origin level have been less consistently predictive of the final data reported in the regular monthly trade statistics. For further details visit the Foreign Trade Division web site at: www.census.gov/trade. On the web site you can access product by country and country by product tables.





The next release is October 27, 2009.