August Steel Shipments Up in U.S., Canada
By
Metal Center News Staff on
Sep 27, 2017Shipments of U.S. and Canadian steel products increased in August, but Canadian aluminum shipments saw a slight year-over-year decrease during the month, according to the latest Metals Activity Report from Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based Metals Service Center Institute.
U.S. service centers shipped 3.5 million tons of steel products in August, up 2.7 percent from the same month last year and 17.2 percent from July. Year-to-date shipments of 26.5 million tons are up 3.2 percent from 2016.
Service center steel inventories totaled 7.7 million tons at the end of August, a decrease of 1.9 percent from 2016 but an increase of 2.1 percent from last month. At August shipping rates, that represented 2.2 months of supply, down from 2.3 months at the same time last year.
U.S. service centers shipped 152,900 tons of aluminum products during the month, up 10.8 percent year over year and 23.8 percent from July. Full-year shipments of 1.1 million tons were up 7.3 percent from last year.
U.S. service center inventories of aluminum products totaled 397,400 tons in August, an increase of 3.2 percent from last year but a decrease of 0.8 percent from the previous month. At August shipping rates, that represented 2.6 months of supply, down from 2.8 months in August 2016.
Canadian service centers shipped 387,500 tons of steel products during the month, an increase of 6.2 percent from August 2016 and 11.8 percent from July of this year. Year-to-date shipments increased 3.5 percent to 3.1 million tons.
Service center steel inventories in Canada totaled 1.2 million tons at the end of the month, an increase of 2.9 percent from last August and 0.7 percent from the month prior. At August shipping rates, that represented 3.1 months of supply, flat with the year-ago period.
Canadian service centers shipped 10,600 tons of aluminum products in August, down 3.4 percent from the same month in 2016 but up 10.4 percent from July. Year-to-date aluminum shipments of 82,900 tons were up 0.3 percent over the same time last year.
Canadian inventories of aluminum products totaled 31,100 tons at the end of August, a decrease of 0.3 percent from a year ago and an increase of 1.6 percent from July. At August shipping rates, that represented 2.9 months of supply, which is equal to August 2016.