Steel Products
January 18, 2013
U.S. Service Centers Produce Disappointing Shipping & Inventory Data for December
Written by John Packard
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released service center shipment and inventory data for the month of December on Wednesday of this week. For total steel products, shipments were down slightly to 136,900 tons per day compared to 140,800 tons per day last year. On a seasonally adjusted basis shipments were 4.6 percent lower than one year ago (all products).
Total steel inventories stood at 8,548,500 tons, up 377,000 tons compared to the previous month and up 2.4 percent year-over-year. Months of inventory stood at 3.1 (unadjusted), an increase of .5 for the month. Seasonally adjusted inventory was 2.5 and the same level as the prior month. According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch Research steel analyst Timna Tanners, December inventories were 16 percent below the historical average but were 16 percent above the more recent 3-year average.
