The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) announced Wednesday that February shipments of steel products from US metals service centers totaled 3.2 million net tons, or 20.2 percent above February 2010 shipment levels. February 2011 shipments from metal service centers were still below the 3.42 million net tons shipped in January 2011. At current shipping rates, month-end inventories of nearly 7.94 million net tons of steel were equal to a 2.5-month supply.
Steel shipments from Canadian metals service centers totaled 500,300 net tons in February, which represents a 12.2 percent increase from year-ago levels but still down from January 2011 shipments of 545,100 net tons. At current shipping rates, month-on-hand inventories of 1.52 million net tons equate to a three-month supply.