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U.S., Canadian Metals Shipments Rebounded in 2010
01/20/2011 - Shipments of steel and aluminum from U.S. and Canadian metals service centers rebounded during 2010 vs. the depressed volumes of 2009, according MSCI’s just-released Metals Activity Report for December 2010.
Shipments of steel and aluminum from U.S. and Canadian metals service centers rebounded during 2010 vs. the depressed volumes of 2009, according the just-released Metals Activity Report, a proprietary survey by the Metals Service Center Institute, for December 2010.
The report indicates that U.S. metals service center steel shipments for 2010 rose 20.6% above those of 2009 to nearly 35.7 million tons, while in Canada, steel shipments rose 15.3% to about 5.67 million tons. U.S. aluminum shipments finished 2010 some 25.8% higher at 1.3 million tons, while Canadian aluminum shipments rose 7.7% to 135,200 tons.
Inventories of steel and aluminum held at metals service centers in the United States and Canada rose seasonally at the end of December.
Year-over-year shipments of steel products from U.S. metal centers rose 25.6% in December 2010 to about 2.82 million tons. By the end of December, inventories were 7.71 million tons, 25.6% above those of a year ago and comparable to a 2.7-month supply at current shipping rates.
Canadian metals service centers shipped 380,800 tons of steel products during December, or 18.1% more than during the same month in 2009. By the end of December, Canadian steel inventories had reached nearly 1.4 million tons, 34% above year-earlier levels and equal to a 3.7-month supply at current shipping volume.
U.S. metals centers shipped 100,300 tons of aluminum products during December, 26.7% more than during December 2009. By the end of the year, aluminum inventories totaled 347,900 tons, 33.5% above the stockpiles of a year ago and equal to a 3.5-month supply at current shipping rates.
In Canada, metals service centers shipped 9,000 tons of aluminum during December, up 16.7% from the same month last year. By year-end, aluminum inventories were 31,300 tons, 7.2% above stocks at the end of 2009 and at current shipping rates equal to a 3.5-month supply.
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 370 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.
