On Tuesday, the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) announced that US service centers shipped 3.5 million tons of steel products in April, up 6.3 percent from April 2011. April 2012 year-to-date steel shipments were 14.7 million tons, reflecting a 6.9 percent increase from the same period in 2011. Steel product inventories were 9.1 million tons at the end of April 2012, an increase of 11.9 percent over April a year ago and an increase of 3.1 percent from March. At the current shipping rate, this represents 2.6-month's supply in inventory, an increase of 5.3 percent from a year.
Canadian Service Centers shipped 521,200 tons of steel products in the month of April 2012. This represents an increase of 1.3 percent from April 2011. April 2012 year-to-date steel shipments were 2.2 million tons, an increase of 1.1 percent from the same period in 2011. Steel product inventories were 1.7 million tons at the end of April 2012, an increase of 11.2 percent from April a year ago and a decrease of 0.9 percent from last month. At the current shipping rate, this represents 3.3-month's supply in inventory, an increase of 9.8 percent from a year ago.