The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced Monday that during March 2011, US steel mills shipped 8,006,015 net tons (7,262,976 metric tons) of steel-14.9 percent higher than the 6,967,481 net tons (6,320,829 metric tons) shipped in the previous month. The largest month-on-month changes were in flat-rolled shipments-hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip shipments were up 19 percent, hot rolled sheet shipments rose 14 percent and cold rolled sheet shipments jumped 13 percent.
Total steel shipments in March are up 4.7 percent year-on-year, and shipments year-to-date in 2011 are 22,502,151 net tons (20,413,726 metric tons)-a 9.6 percent increase versus 2010 shipments of 20,537,822 net tons (18,631,706 metric tons).