US service center shipments of steel products in May 2013 decreased 4.8 percent from May 2012, according to a report Tuesday from the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI). Steel product inventories at the end of May 2013 decreased 11.6 percent from May a year ago. At the current shipping rate, this represents 2.2 months of supply in inventory. Flat rolled inventories were down 5 percent, while supply-on-hand fell to two months. Plate inventories fell 3.7 percent, bar inventories were down 1.1 percent, while pipe inventories fell a slight 0.1 percent. Meanwhile, beam inventories were up 2.9 percent.
Canadian service center steel shipments decreased by 10.1 percent from May 2012. Steel product inventories decreased 7.5 percent from May a year ago. The inventory to shipments ratio decreased 3 percent from a year ago.