
U.S. Steel, Aluminum Shipments Jump in January
By
Metal Center News Staff on
Feb 28, 2018U.S. steel and aluminum shipments increased in January compared with the previous month, while Canadian shipments fell, reports the Metals Service Center Institute in its first Metals Activity Report of 2018.
U.S. service centers shipped 3.5 million tons of steel products in January, up 4.3 percent from the same month last year and 31.1 percent from the previous month.
Service center steel inventories totaled 7.7 million tons at the end of the month, a year-over-year increase of 6 percent and up less than 1 percent from December. At January shipping rates, that represents 2.2 months of supply, level with January 2016.
U.S. service centers shipped 150,100 tons of aluminum products during the month, a 12.7 percent increase from the year-ago period and up 25.7 percent from December.
U.S. service center inventories of aluminum products totaled 407,900 tons, an increase of 5.5 percent compared with 2016 and up 1 percent from the previous month. At January shipping rates, that represents 2.7 months of supply, down from 2.9 months a year ago.
Canadian service centers shipped 410,100 tons of steel products in January, down 0.4 percent from the same month last year, but up 46.1 percent from December.
Service center steel inventories in Canada totaled 1.2 million tons at the end of the month, a 2.1 percent decrease from last year, but up 1.7 percent from the prior month. At January shipping rates, that represents 2.8 months of supply, down slightly from last year.
Canadian service centers shipped 10,600 tons of aluminum products during the month, down 1.9 percent from January 2016, but up 45.2 percent from the previous month.
Canadian inventories of aluminum products totaled 31,700 tons at the end of the month, up 3.4 percent from last January, but down less than 1 percent from December. At January shipping rates, that represented 3.0 months of supply, up from 2.9 months a year ago.