The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Wednesday that US steel mill shipments rose 12.1 percent to 8.3 million net tons (nt) in August compared to 7.4 million nt shipped in July. August steel mill shipments also climbed 15 percent from the 7.2 million nt shipped in August of last year. Year-to-date, steel shipments are up as well, increasing 8 percent to 60.5 million nt over 2010.
Flat rolled shipments registered the highest gains: cold rolled sheet import rose 17 percent; hot dipped galvanized sheets and strips shipments increased 16 percent and hot rolled sheet shipments jumped 14 percent.