The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that for the month of June 2012, US steel mills shipped 8,016,834 net tons, a 5 percent decrease from the 8,436,831 net tons shipped in the previous month, May 2012, and a 4.9 percent increase from the 7,639,108 net tons shipped in June 2011. Shipments year-to-date in 2012 are 50,117,104, an 11.9 percent increase versus 2011 shipments of 44,779,857 for six months.
Shipments in Q2 2012 (April through June) were 24,699,004 net tons, a 2.8 percent decrease compared to Q1 shipments of 25,418,100 net tons. Similarly, the capacity utilization rate for raw steel production has also been trending downward with the week ending August 11, 2012 at 76.9 percent utilization compared to the Q1 utilization rate of 79.3 percent and the Q2 utilization rate of 78.3 percent.
A month-to-month comparison of shipments shows the following changes: hot rolled sheet shipments were up 2 percent; cold rolled sheet shipments fell 6 percent, and hot dipped galvanized sheets and strip shipments declined by 13 percent.