U.S. Census Bureau News U.S. Department of Commerce • Washington, DC 20230 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10:00 A.M. EST TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2011 For information contact: CB11-14, FT-900A (12-10) Matthew Przybocki (301) 763-3148 Maria Iseman (301) 763-2311 Preliminary: U.S. Imports for Consumption of Steel Products December 2010 The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that preliminary December steel imports were $1.8 billion (1.6 million metric tons) virtually unchanged from the preliminary November totals. The December change in steel imports based on metric tonnage reflected increases primarily in blooms, billets, and slabs; and a decrease occurred primarily with oil country goods. Increases occurred primarily with Brazil and Mexico. A decrease occurred primarily with Canada. The year to date final statistics through November 2010 showed steel imports of 20.0 million metric tons compared to 13.4 million metric tons through November 2009. The largest commodity increase was blooms, billets, and slabs. The largest country increase 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 February 23, 2011.