The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) announced Tuesday that steel shipments from service centers in the US and Canada rose in September compared to the previous year.
US service centers shipped 3.4 million tons of steel in September, representing a 7.4 percent increase from September 2010. Year-to-date, steel shipments were 31.1 million tons, a significant 15.9 percent year-on-year climb.
Steel service center inventories were up as well in September, increasing 12.9 percent from September 2010 to 8.5 million tons, and rose a slight 0.5 percent from August. At the current shipping rate, this represents 2.5 months supply in inventory, an increase of 5.1 percent from a year ago.
Canadian Service Centers shipped 556,900 tons of steel in the month of September 2011, up 10.1 percent from September 2010. For 2011 year-to-date, steel shipments were 4.8 million tons, an increase of 12 percent from the same period in 2010.
Steel product inventories were 1.56 million tons at the end of September 2011, an increase of 18.9 percent from September a year ago but a decrease of 3.9 percent from last month. At the current shipping rate, this represents 2.8 months supply in inventory, an increase of 7.9 percent from a year ago.