May shipments of copper products increased 2.8 percent over the previous month, while alloy shipments declined by 1.1 percent, reports the Copper and Brass Servicenter Association, Overland Park, Kan. Warehouse shipments of copper and brass products totaled over 20.2 million pounds in May, an increase of 0.5 percent from April.

Service center shipments of copper products totaled 8.2 million pounds in May, down 6.0 percent compared with May 2010. May shipments of copper and brass alloy products totaled 12.0 million pounds, down 9.5 percent from the previous May. Total warehouse shipments of copper and brass products were down 8.1 percent year over year.

For the first five months of 2011, service centers shipped 49.7 million pounds of copper products, 11.2 percent more than in the year-ago period. Alloy product shipments for the first five months totaled nearly 65.5 million pounds, up 1.2 percent from the same period in 2010. Total warehouse shipments of copper and brass products increased by 5.3 percent in the first five months of this year.

Year to date, service centers saw the biggest gains in shipments of brass plate, copper plate and alloy pipe.