The latest Metals Activity Report (MAR) released by the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) shows that both shipments and inventories of steel from metals service centers in the United States and Canada continued to decline in December, with full-year shipment totals from service centers in both countries reflecting decreases of over 10 percent from 2007.
MSCI reported that December shipments of steel products from US metals service centers totaled about 2.4 million net tons (nt), representing a decrease of 29.3 percent from December 2007. Full-year 2008 US shipments totaled about 46.8 million nt, which is down 10.6 percent from 2007 levels.
On the other hand, December 2008 US steel service center inventories totaled 8.6 million nt, which is a decrease of 16.1 percent from December 2007 levels; however, December 2008 inventories represented a relatively high 3.6-month supply according to current shipping rates.
Meanwhile, December 2008 steel shipments from Canadian metals service centers totaled about 322,400 nt, which is a 29.2 percent decrease from year earlier levels, while full-year 2008 shipments totaled about 6.7 million nt, or 10.9 percent below 2007 total shipment volumes.
Canadian steel inventories totaled about 1.2 million nt at the end of December, reflecting a 34 percent decrease from 2007 inventories and a 3.6-month supply according to current shipping rates.