The latest Metals Activity Report (MAR) released by the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) demonstrates that January steel shipments of metals service centers increased in both the United States and Canada from December levels, while month-ending US and Canadian inventories also increased from December.
January 2010 shipments of steel products from US metals service centers totaled 2.58 million net tons, an increase of approximately 15 percent December, and were down 0.9 percent from January 2009. Inventories at US service centers at the end of January increased 1.2 percent from December to 6.26 million tons, which is, however, is still 26.2 percent lower than in January 2009. At current shipping rates, the January inventory levels reflect about a 2.4-month supply, down from an approximate 2.7-month supply at the end of December.
Canadian metals service center steel shipments totaled 444,000 nt in January, an increase of approximately 37 percent from December. This reflects an increase of approximately 1.0 percent from January 2009. Canadian inventories at the end of the month totaled 1.18 million nt, up approximately 13.5 percent from December, which is approximately 1 percent lower than January 2009. At current shipping rates, January inventory levels reflect about a 2.7-monty supply, down from an approximate 3.2-month supply measured at the end of December.