According to the data released by US authority in December, the import in the month of stainless steel plates and semi-finished products declined than it in November, 2007 as well as than the same period of 2006.

The import application for semi-finished products reduced by 32 percent to 6,680 tons in December, comparing to the amount of 9,800 tons in November. Also it was down by 38 percent year-on-year. For stainless steel coils and sheets, the import went down by 6 percent to 716 tons month-to-month while it slipped by 86 percent year-on-year.

Generally speaking, the US steel import was showing downwards in 2007 due to the general economic trend and development which has affected the steel demand and consuming level.