The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) announced Monday that very little change occurred in North American metals service center shipment and inventory trends in September. Sequential steel inventories, however, rose slightly in both the United States and Canada.
September steel shipments from US-based metals service centers totaled 3.17 million tons, up 23.9 percent from the same month last year. For the first nine months of the year, total US steel shipments of 26.8 million tons were 19.8 percent above those for the 2009 period. Steel product inventories at the end of September of 7.53 million tons were 30 percent above last year's stockpiles and, at current shipping rates, represented a 2.4-month supply.
In Canada, metals service centers shipped 505,600 tons of steel in September, up 11.1 percent from the same month last year. Shipments for the first nine months of the year of 4.29 million tons were 15 percent above those for the 2009 period. Month-end Canadian steel inventories of 1.32 million tons were 37.4 percent above stocks at the end of September 2009 and, at current shipping rates, equal to a 2.6 month supply.