Steel Mills

MSCI Reports Flat Rolled Inventories Under 2 Months

July 18, 2017

Shipments of all steel products by U.S. distributors in June totaled 3,423,500 tons, up 1.1 percent from June 2016, reported the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI). The 155,600 tons per day shipment rate in June was 300 tons per day lower than in the month of May. Both May and June had 22 shipping days.

Inventories of all steel products being held at steel distributors in the United States totaled 7,262,200 tons at the end of June. Steel inventories ended the month almost exactly the same as the month of May, which came in at 7,242,300 tons. The number of months supply remains at 2.1 months, MSCI reported.

Carbon Flat Rolled

U.S. steel service centers shipped 2,299,500 tons of steel during the month of June. Shipments were 1.2 percent lower than last year (which also had 22 shipping days). The daily shipment rate was 104,500 tons.

Flat rolled shipments through the first six months 2017 totaled 13,560,400 tons, and shipments for the year were 3.0 percent higher than year-ago levels.

Flat rolled inventories stood at 4,467,400 tons, almost exactly the same as the prior month, which came in at 4,457,700 tons. Inventories are now 6.0 percent below year-ago levels and the number of months supply came in at 1.94 months.

Hot rolled inventories were reported to be 2.21 months on hand. Cold rolled inventories were reported to be 1.82 months on hand. Coated inventories were reported to be 1.64 months on hand.

Carbon Plate

Shipments of carbon steel plate were 305,500 tons with the daily shipment rate averaging 13,900 tons per day. June and January were the two lowest daily shipment rates so far this calendar year. Even so, shipments were up 12.6 percent over last June.

Total plate shipments during the first six months were 1,804,500 tons, which is a 6.5 percent improvement over last year’s levels.

Inventories at the end of June grew to 810,100 tons, which is 2.2 percent below year-ago levels but higher than the 786,100 tons reported at the end of May. The number of months on hand was 2.7 months.

Pipe & Tube

U.S. steel distributors shipped 192,400 tons of pipe and tube products during the month of June. The daily shipment rate was 8,700 tons. The shipment level was 6.4 percent below year-ago levels.

Total pipe and tube shipments during the first six months were 1,153,100 tons, which is 5.8 percent lower than last year.