Steel Products
Canadian Service Centers Drop Flat Rolled Inventories to 4.6 Months
Written by John Packard
February 20, 2013
Canadian distributors shipped a total of 522,300 tons (all products) during the month of January. This is down 6.9 percent (actual) from the previous year. The daily shipping rate was 23,700 tons per day, a marked improvement from December’s 16,900 tons per day but barely above November’s 23,600 tons per day. On a seasonally adjusted basis shipments were off 11.3 percent compared to the prior January according to the MSCI report.
Inventories stood at 1,774,200 tons which is down from the 1,832,800 tons on the service center floors at the end of December. This represents 3.4 months supply on a non-seasonally adjusted basis (down from 5.4 months) or 3.7 months on a seasonally adjusted view (down from 3.8 months).
Carbon Flat Rolled
Canadian service centers shipped 267,900 tons of flat rolled in January, a 7.9 percent drop from one year ago (actual). The daily shipment rate was 12,200 tons per day which is up from the 8,200 tons shipped during the month of December. On a seasonally adjusted basis shipments were 12.3 percent lower than one year ago.
Inventories of flat rolled stood at 1,100,000 tons at the end of January which is 11.8 percent higher than one year ago. Months on hand stood at 4.1 (unadjusted), an improvement over the 6.8 months held at the end of December or 4.6 months (SA) which is down slightly from the 4.7 months in December.
Plate
Plate shipments totaled 108,600 tons out of the Canadian distributors based on MSCI data for January. The daily shipment rate was 4,900 tons per day. Plate shipments were actually better this January than last year by 2.0 percent (actual).
Inventory levels stood at 315,200 tons at the end of January which is lower than the 326,300 tons reported at the end of December. Months on hand stood at 2.9 (unadjusted) down from 4.6 months and 3.3 months (SA) this remained the same as the prior month.
Pipe & Tube
Distributors shipped 53,900 tons of pipe and tube in Canada during the month of January. The daily shipping rate was 2,400 tons which was less than the 2,800 tons shipped per day one year earlier.
Inventory levels stood at 123,500 tons, down 10,100 tons from the prior month and 5.4 percent lower than January 2012 levels. The number of months of inventory on hand stood at 2.3 (unadjusted) an improvement over the previous month’s 3.6 (unadjusted) and 2.4 (SA) which is down from 2.6 (SA).
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products
CRU tariff webinar replay now available
CRU’s latest webinar replay on how Trump’s tariffs affect the global steel market is now available on our website to all members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the community tab and look under the “previous webinars” section of the dropdown menu. You’ll find not only this special CRU webinar but also all past Community […]
US, offshore CRC prices diverge
US cold-rolled (CR) coil prices declined this week, slipping for the first time since early February. Most offshore markets deviated, moving higher this week.
Construction growth slowed in March on tariff woes: Dodge
The decline comes after reaching a record high in January to kickstart the year.
Return of S232 zapped gap between US and EU HR prices, Asian HR remains cheaper
Domestic hot-rolled (HR) coil prices declined this week for a third straight week. Most offshore markets bucked the trend and gained ground. Uncertainty in the US market around tariffs, especially after “Liberation Day,” caused US prices to slip as buyers moved to the sidelines. It’s unclear to date whether the 90-day pause on the more […]
SMU Steel Demand Index momentum slows further
SMU’s Steel Demand Index growth eased again, according to early April indicators. The slowdown comes after the index reached a four-year high in late February.