According to the latest figures from the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI), November steel shipments from US service centers totaled 2.98 million net tons (nt), down 1.4 percent from 3.03 million nt shipped in October, but up 22 percent over 2.32 million nt shipped in November 2009.
US service center inventories totaled 7.28 million nt at the end of November, 19.5 percent larger than year-earlier inventories and, at current shipping rates, equal to a 2.4-month supply.
Daily shipments from US service center were 149,300 nt in November, 3.4 percent higher than the previous month, and 18 percent higher than November 2009.