The latest Metals Activity Report (MAR) released by the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) demonstrates that July steel shipments of metals service centers remained relatively unchanged in the United States and Canada from June levels, while inventory levels continued their steady decline.
July 2009 shipments of steel products from US metals service centers totaled about 2.5 million net tons, representing a slight increase from the 2.46 million nt of shipments in June; however, shipments were still down 39.4 percent from July 2008. Furthermore, total US steel service center shipments over the first seven months of the year amounted to approximately 17.3 million nt, which is an estimated 43.3 percent decline from the same period of 2008.
Meanwhile, the 5.7 million nt of steel inventory held at US service centers at the end of July represented about a 4.7 percent decrease from end-June volumes, and a 47.7 percent decrease from July 2008. At current shipping rates, the July inventory levels reflect about a 2.3-month supply, down from an approximate 2.4-month supply at the end of June.
Canadian metals service center steel shipments totaled 398,500 nt in July, which is a slight decrease from June shipments of 399,200 nt, and is an approximately 23.8 percent decline in volume from July 2008. Year-to-date steel shipments total about 2.9 million nt, down 33.7 percent from the same period last year.
Furthermore, Canadian service center inventories declined from 1.05 million nt in June to 999,000 nt in July, and have declined 35.4 percent from July 2008. At current shipping rates, July inventory levels reflect about a 2.5-month supply, down from an approximate 2.6-month supply at the end of June.