US steel imports to grow by 16% in 2017

The latest trade statistics released by the US suggest that the country's imports of finished steel products are likely to increase by 16% throughout 2017. Among the various steel products, oil pipes and steel sheets are likely to report the biggest jump in imports.

According to the data, imports of finished steel in the country are likely to be 30.602 million tons, up 16.2% when compared with an annual import volume of 26.338 million tons in 2016. Annual imports of steel products are expected to grow by almost 21% from 33.022 million tonnes in 2016 to 39.842 million tonnes in 2017.

Among the various products, imports of petroleum products are expected to see record growth. The projected annual import volume will amount to 3.372 million tons, which is significantly higher (by 192.6%) compared to 2016 at 1.152 million tons. Another product category that is likely to report record growth in 2017 is pipeline lines. Line pipe imports are likely to increase by almost 54% over the course of the year. Other products showing a significant increase in imports throughout 2017 are standard pipe (+ 49.6%), billets and plates (+ 37.7%), mechanical tubes (+ 30.4%), and sheet steel and bands up to (+ 28.4%).