STEEL IMPORTS FOR August 2003
DECREASED 22 PERCENT FROM July 2003

September 30, 2003

Newly released preliminary government figures covering steel imports for the month of August 2003 show that steel imports decreased 22 percent from July 2003 levels.

Total Steel Mill Products

The preliminary data released today show that overall steel imports in August 2003 decreased 22 percent compared to July 2003. The decrease in August's total amount of steel imports was due primarily to a decrease in imports of blooms, billets, and slabs. August 2003 imports of semi-finished steel products decreased 54 percent compared to July 2003, and imports of hot-rolled steel decreased by 13 percent.

August 2003 imports of steel mill products were down 42 percent compared to August 2002. August 2003 imports of finished steel were down 30 percent compared to August 2002, while semi-finished steel products were down 69 percent compared to August 2002. January to August 2003 imports of steel mill products were down 25 percent compared to the same period in 2002. January to August 2003 imports of finished steel were down 16 percent compared to the same period last year, while imports of semi-finished steel were down 47 percent.

Hot-Rolled Steel

August 2003 imports of hot-rolled steel decreased 13 percent from their July 2003 levels and were down 52 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of hot-rolled steel were down 22 percent compared to the same period last year.

Cold-Rolled Steel

August 2003 imports of cold-rolled steel down 9 percent compared to July 2003 levels and were down 52 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of cold-rolled steel were down 20 percent compared to the same period last year.

Cut-to-Length Plate

August 2003 imports of cut-to-length plate decreased 22 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports were down 46 percent compared to August 2002. January to August 2003 imports of cut-to-length plate were down 26 percent compared to the same period last year.

Corrosion-Resistant Steel

August 2003 imports of corrosion-resistant steel decreased 17 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports of these products were down 46 percent compared to August 2002. January to August 2003 imports of corrosion-resistant steel were down 4 percent compared to the same period last year.

Wire Rod

August 2003 imports of wire rod decreased 23 percent compared to July 2003 levels, and were down 32 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of wire rod were down 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

Heavy Structurals

August 2003 imports of heavy structurals increased 53 percent from their July 2003 level and were down 20 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of heavy structurals were down 32 percent compared to the same period last year.

Rebar

August 2003 imports of rebar were down 1 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports of these products were up 5 percent compared to August 2002. January to August 2003 imports of rebar were down 37 percent compared to the same period last year.

Hot-Rolled Bar

August 2003 imports of hot-rolled bar were down 3 percent compared to July 2003 and were down 16 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of hot-rolled bar were down 6 percent compared to the same period last year.

Standard Pipe

August 2003 imports of standard pipe decreased 13 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports of these products were down 15 percent compared to August 2002, and January to August 2003 imports of standard pipe were down 12 percent compared to the same period last year.

Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG)

August 2003 imports of OCTG decreased 29 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports of these products were up 103 percent compared to August 2002. January to August 2003 imports of OCTG were up 48 percent compared to the same period last year.

Semi-Finished Steel

August 2003 imports of semi-finished steel decreased 54 percent compared to July 2003 and were down 69 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of semi-finished steel were down 47 percent compared to the same period last year.

EXPANDED BREAKOUT BY GRADE

Since August 2002 the U.S. Census Bureau (Census) expanded its early release of steel import data to include separate breakouts for carbon, alloy and stainless steel in each of the product categories. The following lists some of the highlights from these new breakouts:

Carbon Steel

Overall imports of carbon steel products in August 2003 decreased 20 percent from their July 2003 levels and were down 44 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of these products were down 27 percent compared to the same period last year.

Carbon Hot-Rolled Steel - Imports of carbon hot-rolled steel in August 2003 decreased 14 percent compared to July 2003 and were down 53 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August imports of these products were down 22 percent compared to the same period last year.

Carbon Cold-Rolled Steel - Imports of carbon cold-rolled steel in August 2003 decreased 8 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports were down 59 percent compared to August 2002. January to August imports of these products were down 25 percent compared to the same period last year.

Alloy Steel

Overall imports of alloy steel products in August 2003 decreased 35 percent compared to July 2003 and were down 33 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of these products were down 10 percent compared to the same period last year.

Tool Steel - Imports of tool steel in August 2003 decreased 13 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports were up 22 percent compared to August 2002. January to August imports of these products were up 33 percent compared to the same period last year.

Stainless Steel

Overall imports of stainless steel products in August 2003 decreased 17 percent from their July 2003 level and were down 30 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August 2003 imports of these products were down 20 percent compared to the same period last year.

Stainless Hot-Rolled Steel - Imports of stainless hot-rolled steel in August 2003 decreased 25 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports were down 39 percent compared to August 2002. January to August imports of these products were down 32 percent compared to the same period last year.

Stainless Cold-Rolled Steel - Imports of stainless cold-rolled steel in August 2003 decreased 13 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports were down 15 percent compared to August 2002. January to August imports of these products were up5 percent compared to the same period last year.

Stainless Hot-Rolled Bars - Imports of stainless hot-rolled bars in August 2003 decreased 10 percent compared to July 2003 and were up 0.1 percent compared to August 2002 levels. January to August imports of these products were down 20 percent compared to the same period last year.

Stainless Cold-Finished Bars - Imports of stainless cold-finished bars in August 2003 decreased 38 percent compared to July 2003. August 2003 imports were up 54 percent compared to August 2002. January to August imports of these products were down 14 percent compared to the same period last year.

These figures are being provided on an expedited basis and will continue to be released on this schedule each month. The data released today are preliminary and are likely to change somewhat between now and the release of the final August statistics next month. September 2003 preliminary figures will be released on October 28, 2003.

Notice: July 2003 Revision

While processing the August 2003 preliminary Imports for Consumption of Steel Products report, the U.S. Census Bureau discovered an error in the assignment of Harmonized Tariff commodity classifications to the American Iron and Steel groupings. This error relates to selected data for the month of July 2003 only. The error affected the total, carbon (non-alloy), and section 201 Exhibits. The cold rolled sheets category was affected in the total and carbon (non-alloy) Exhibits and the flat rolled-cold rolled category was affected in the section 201 Exhibit. While the corrections were limited to one American Iron and Steel grouping, the corrections were distributed among several countries.

With this release, the Bureau has revised the July 2003 final and preliminary steel data to reflect the current Harmonized Tariff assignments. The July 2003 exhibits and data tables have been corrected and are available on the Foreign Trade Division's Web site at: www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/press-release/.