The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported Monday that US service centers shipped nearly 3.4 million tons of steel products in February 2013. This represents a decrease of 7.9 percent from February 2012. Year-to-date, steel shipments for 2013 were approximately 7 million tons, a decrease of 5 percent from the same period in 2012. Steel product inventories were 8.5 million tons at the end of February 2013, a decrease of 4.6 percent over February a year ago and a decrease of 2.6 percent from last month. At the current shipping rate, this represents 2.5 months of supply in inventory, an increase of 3.5 percent from a year ago.
Canadian service centers shipped 463,100 tons of steel products in February 2013. This represents a decrease of 14.5 percent from February 2012. For 2013, year-to-date steel shipments were 985,400 tons, a decrease of 10.6 percent from the same period in 2012. Steel product inventories were nearly 1.8 million tons at the end of February 2013, an increase of 2.4 percent from February a year ago and a decrease of 0.2 percent from last month. At the current shipping rate, this represents 3.8 months of supply in inventory, an increase of 19.7 percent from a year ago.