Thu, 25 Mar 1999, 10:43am EST
U.S. Steel Imports Fell 19.2% in Feb. to 2.008 Mln Metric Tons
Washington, March 25 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. steel imports
dropped for the fourth consecutive month in February as the
government slapped penalties on cheap foreign products and
domestic prices slumped, the Commerce Department said.
Imports fell 19.2 percent in volume to 2.008 million metric
tons last month, with China, Japan and Korea accounting for much
of the drop. Imports had fallen 4.2 percent in January to a
revised 2.485 million tons, initially reported as 2.421 million
tons.
The total dollar-based value of steel imported fell 18.7
percent in February from a month earlier to $854.6 million. In
January, the value of imported steel fell 5.2 percent to $1.051
billion, initially estimated at $1.026 billion.
``Steel imports declined because of pressure from Washington
and lower prices in the U.S.,'' Michelle Applebaum, a Salomon
Smith Barney analyst, said before the report. ``It's a less
attractive market and the tariffs have created uncertainty.''
The Commerce Department imposed preliminary duties on hot-rolled
steel from Japan and Brazil last month.
Steel prices, still well below what they were a year ago,
are beginning to rebound, suggesting the campaign by LTV Corp.,
USX Corp., and other U.S. steel manufacturers to curb cheap
imports from Russia, Brazil, Japan, and South Korea is working.
The companies that filed trade complaints against Japanese,
Brazilian and other steelmakers say some of the countries that
have cut their U.S.-bound exports of products like hot-rolled
steel and steel plate are shifting to cold-rolled steel,
structural steel and other varieties of the metal and that
shipments from yet other nations are rising.
``The crisis in steel is not over,'' Curtis ``Hank''
Barnette, president and chief executive of Bethlehem Steel Corp.,
the nation's No. 3 producer, told the Senate Finance Committee
this week. ``The marketplace is here in the U.S. and they're
going to fill that market.''
Last year's surge in steel imports slashed profits,
shuttered plants and put thousands out of work. In retaliation,
the U.S. House of Representatives last week approved a bill by a
two-to-one margin that would cap steel imports at about
26 million metric tons for the next three years.
However, analysts said the recent decline in imports lessens
the chance the legislation will become law.
The Clinton administration, which has negotiated an
agreement with Russia to pare steel imports from that country
back to 1996 and 1997 levels, is going to try to block the
measure. ``We will be working with the (Senate) leadership to try
to make sure that the bill as passed in the House does not pass
the Senate,'' said Commerce Secretary William Daley.
By region:
-- Shipments from Japan fell 49.7 percent to 192,419 tons.
-- Imports from China fell 62.9 percent to 36,515 tons.
-- Imports from South Korea fell 10.3 percent to 246,316
tons.
-- Shipments from Russia rose 16.6 percent in February to
55,710 tons.
-- Imports from Brazil rose 2.7 percent to 192,137 tons.
U.S. trade officials have begun scrutinizing steel imports
from China, U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefksy told
the Senate Finance Committee. The U.S. imported 98,508 tons of
steel from China in January, up from 59,831 in December. That's
about five times the level seen in January 1998.
``The sharp rate of increase is cause for concern,''
Barshefsky said. ``We will not allow others to jump into a vacuum
caused by the elimination of dumped steel from Japan or other
countries.''
The Commerce Department began publishing the steel report in
January in response to the flood of foreign shipments and falling
prices. The statistics are based on preliminary data collected
for the monthly report on international trade. The government
plans to publish the report for a one-year period. The March
report is scheduled to be released April 22.