According to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), for the month of December 2012, US steel mills shipped 7.5 million net tons, a 1.2 percent increase from the 7.4 million net tons shipped in the previous month, November 2012, and a 7.5 percent decrease from the 8.1 million net tons shipped in December 2011. Shipments for full year 2012 were 95.95 million net tons, a 4.4 percent increase versus 2011 shipments of 91.8 million net tons.
Shipments in December were 6 percent below the 2012 monthly average of 8 million net tons. While December shipments were the highest monthly amount since the 8.4 million tons shipped in August, they were below all monthly totals in the first eight months of 2012.
A comparison of December shipments to the previous month of November shows the following changes: hot rolled sheet shipments were up 7 percent; hot dipped galvanized sheets and strip shipments rose 1 percent and cold rolled sheet shipments fell 1 percent.