Steel Mills

US Steel Distributors Improve YOY Shipping Levels for 1st Time Since 2014

September 20, 2016

Steel service centers in the United States shipped a total of 3,378,700 tons of steel (all products) during the month of August, according to data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI). The daily shipment rate improved by 1,000 tons per day during August compared to July as the distributors shipped 146,900 tons per day of steel products. The monthly total represented a 2.1 percent improvement year-over-year and was the first month where we saw YOY improvement going back to 2014.

The distributors have shipped a total of 25,699,400 tons so far this year which is 6.9 percent lower than year ago levels.

Total steel inventories (all products) stood at 7,850,400 tons according to the MSCI data. This is 14.5 percent below year ago levels (9,181,900 tons in August 2015).

The number of months supply on hand are now 2.3 months, down from the 2.7 months reported by the MSCI at the end of July.

Carbon Flat Rolled

U.S. distributors shipped 2,300,600 tons of flat rolled steel during the month of August. This represents a 5.5 percent improvement over year ago levels and is only the second month going back to 2014 where there was growth in tonnage on a year-over-year basis (the other month being May at +1.5 percent).

Service centers shipped 100,000 tons per day of flat rolled during the month of August which is the same as what was shown for the month of July and is also lower than all of the other months so far this year with the exception of March (96,900 tons per day).

Total flat rolled shipments to date equal 17,460,000 tons which is 3.0 percent lower than what was reported one year ago.

Inventories grew by 45,000 tons since the end of July to 5,018,500 tons which is 13.2 percent below year ago levels.

The number of months on hand dropped from 2.5 months at the end of July to 2.2 months as of the end of August. When looking at specific products, hot rolled inventories are at 2.63 months, cold rolled 1.74 months and galvanized 1.53 months according to the MSCI.

Carbon Plate

Domestic (USA) plate service centers shipped a total of 296,300 tons which was 8.9 percent below levels shipped during the month of August 2015. The -8.9 percent is the best year-over-year comparison this year as the bottom has fallen out of the plate markets. The last three months saw comparables of -20.8, -26.3 and -35.4 percent compared to the year ago levels.

The daily shipment rate for plate during the month of August was 12,900 tons per day.

Inventory levels stood at 830,100 tons which is both an improvement over the 857,600 tons reported at the end of July and is 21.0 percent below year ago levels.

The number of months supply of plate on hand as of the end of August was 2.8 months supply, down from the 3.5 months supply reported at the end of July.

Carbon Pipe & Tube

Distributors in the United States shipped a total of 198,300 tons of pipe & tube products during the month of August. The daily shipment rate was 8.600 tons per day down from 8,700 tons per day reported for July and well below the 10,600 tons per day reported for August 2015.

Inventories of pipe & tube stood at 501,000 tons at the end of August which is 28.4 percent lower than year ago levels. The number of months supply stood at 2.5 months at the end of August which is an improvement over the 2.9 months supply reported at the end of July.