North American service center shipments of steel and aluminum products rebounded in May, gaining against both the previous month and the same month in 2016, according to the latest Metals Activity Report from the Metals Service Center Institute, Rolling Meadows, Ill. For the full year, shipments of all products except Canadian aluminum remain ahead of last year’s pace.
U.S. service centers shipped 3.4 million tons of steel products in May, an increase of 7.0 percent from the same month last year, and up 10.2 percent from the previous month. Year-to-date shipments of 16.7 million tons were up 4.0 percent from last year.
Service center steel inventories totaled 7.2 million tons at the end of the month, a decrease of 4.5 percent from 2016, but up 0.7 percent from April. At May shipping rates, that represented 2.1 months of supply, down from 2.4 months in 2016.
U.S. service centers shipped 142,300 tons of aluminum products in May, an increase of 11.5 percent from the same month in 2016, and up 11.6 percent from the previous month. Full-year shipments increased 6.5 percent to 685,400 tons.
U.S. service center inventories of aluminum products totaled 393,900 tons in May, an increase of 2.1 percent from last year and up 3.5 percent from the previous month. At May shipping rates, that represented 2.8 months of supply, down from 3.0 months during the same month of 2016.
Canadian service centers shipped 415,000 tons of steel products during the month, an increase of 6.8 percent from the same month in 2016, and up 14.5 percent from April. For the year to date, shipments increased 1.9 percent to 2.0 million tons.
Service center steel inventories in Canada totaled 1.1 million tons at the end of May, a decrease of 3.5 percent from the same month in 2016, and down 2.9 percent from April. At May shipping rates, that represented 2.7 months of supply, down from 3.0 months from the same time last year.
Canadian service centers shipped 11,200 tons of aluminum products in May, an increase of 3.3 percent from May 2016, and up 16.6 percent from April. Year-to-date aluminum shipments of 52,100 tons were down 0.8 percent from the prior year.
Canadian inventories of aluminum products totaled 30,500 tons at the end of May, a decrease of 2.2 percent from a year ago and down 4.0 percent from the prior month. At May shipping rates, that represented 2.7 months of supply, down from 2.9 months for the same month of 2016.