The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced Wednesday that US steel mills shipped 7,111,031 net tons (nt) in December, an 8.6 percent jump from the 6,549,025 nt shipped in November. December's shipments are also a 17.8 increase from the 6,034,538 nt shipped in December 2009.
Compared to November 2010, shipments of hot rolled sheet are up 16 percent, while shipments of hot dipped galvanized (HDG) sheet and strip rose and 7 percent and cold rolled sheet shipments increased 1 percent.
Shipments for the full year 2010 are 83,443,836, 38.3 percent higher than 2009 shipments of 60,346,710.