Metal Shipments Rise Sharply in November
12/17/2010 - North American metals service center shipments of steel and aluminum products rose significantly in November, perhaps signaling the beginning of a sturdier recovery for the metals industry, according to the latest Metals Activity Report from the Metals Service Center Institute.
North American metals service center shipments of steel and aluminum products rose significantly in November, perhaps signaling the beginning of a sturdier recovery for the metals industry, according to the latest Metals Activity Report from the Metals Service Center Institute.
Year-over-year steel shipments from U.S.-based service centers increased 28.4% during November; Canadian shipments were 19.5% above year-ago volume. U.S. aluminum shipments were 38.8% higher than in November 2009, while Canadian shipments increased 18.3% from last year.
November steel shipments from U.S. service centers totaled 2.99 million tons; shipments for the first 11 months of the year, at 32.8 million tons, were 20.2% above those during the same period in 2009. At the end of November, steel inventories at U.S. service centers totaled 7.28 million tons, 24.2% above last year’s stockpiles. At current shipping rates, that is equal to a 2.4-month supply.
In Canada, metals service centers shipped 512,800 tons of steel products during November, and for the first 11 months of the year had shipped about 5.29 million tons, 15.1% more than a year ago. Steel inventories at Canadian service centers totaled nearly 1.3 million tons at the end of November, 30.4% more than a year ago. At current shipping rates, that equaled a 2.5-month supply.
November shipments of aluminum products from U.S.-based metals service centers totaled 110,300 tons; shipments for the first 11 months of 2010, at 1.21 million tons, were 25.7% above those for the same period in 2009. Aluminum inventories at the end of November totaled 347,800 tons, or 35.9% more than stockpiles at the end of last November. This volume represents a 3.2-month supply at current shipping rates.
In Canada, November aluminum shipments totaled 12,600 tons, or 18.3% greater volume than during the same month a year ago. Year-to-date total shipments were 126,200 tons, an increase of 7.1% above the total from the same period in 2009. Aluminum inventories of 31,000 tons at the end of November were 16.5% larger than a year ago and equal to a 2.5-month supply at current shipping rates.
The Metals Activity Report (MAR), based on data from metals service centers in the United States and Canada, is produced by the Metals Service Center Institute and a third-party econometrics and strategy firm, McCoy, Scott & Co.
Founded in 1909, the Metals Service Center Institute has more than 360 members operating from about 1200 locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere in the world. Together, MSCI members constitute the largest single group of metals purchasers in North America, amounting each year to more than 55 million tons of steel, aluminum, and other metals, with about 300,000 manufacturers and fabricators as customers. MSCI’s membership also includes almost all ferrous and non-ferrous industrial metals producers in North America. Metals service centers inventory and distribute metals and provide first-stage fabrication services.
