Korea Appears to Have Overtaken Mexico as The Number Two Supplier of Steel to The US

Korea appears to have overtaken Mexico as the number two supplier of steel to the US, as the US has begun importing more pipe and tube and flat products from the Asian nation in recent months. Canada maintains its position as the top supplier. In June's preliminary count from the US Department of Commerce, Korea shipped 272,800 tonnes of steel to the US compared to Mexico's 191,740 t. And based on early license data for July, Korean shipments outpaced Mexico's by 23%, with 276,430 t of Korean licenses counted so far for July and 223,900 t counted for Mexico. Korean shipments to the US are up 67% in the first half of the year - 1.35m t in H1 2011 compared to 806,250 t in H1 2010. Shipments from Mexico, meanwhile, are up just 5%, from 1.39m t to 1.46m t, Steel Business Briefing understands. US importers have been buying more OCTG, line pipe, hotrolled sheet, and coiled plate from Korea over the past few months (see chart below). Source: steelbb.com