As reported by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) this week, during the month of May 2007 steel inventories at and steel shipments from metals service centers in the US dropped when compared to the same month of the previous year.
US steel inventories in May 2007 registered at 14.1 million nt, down 1.6 percent from inventories in May 2006. Inventories were also down when compared to the previous month, as April 2007 steel inventories registered at 14.6 million nt. While inventories in the US were down in May, Canadian steel product inventories were up 4.8 percent when compared to the same month of the previous year, totaling approximately 1.3 million nt.
May steel shipments from US metals service centers registered at approximately 4.7 million nt, up from April's tonnage of 4.5 million nt, but down 11.3 percent when compared to May 2006. Year-to-date shipments were down 6.6 percent from the same period last year, registering at 22.9 million nt. Canadian steel shipments for May totaled 338,800 nt, down 10.9 percent when compared to May 2006 shipments. Year-to-date shipments from Canadian service centers are also down when compared to last year, registering at 1.6 million nt, a decrease of 6.9 percent.