Service Center Intake, Shipments and Inventory in April 2014

Total service center carbon steel shipments in April rose by 125,500 tons to 3.640 million tons, the highest monthly tonnage since March two years ago. Shipping days in April were unchanged from March at 21. Tons per day (t/d) shipments rose from 167,400 March to 173,300 in April, both on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. Intake in April was 190,000 t/d leading to a daily surplus of 16,700 tons. Months on hand rose from 2.22 to 2.24.

Table 1 shows the performance by product in April compared to the same month in previous years. Shipments of all products on a t/d basis were up by 5.7 percent from April last year and long products, particularly structurals, continued to lag flat rolled and tubulars. Sheet products were up by 6.6 percent and plate by 6.1 percent. In April there was a surge in the intake of sheet products which with a surplus of 15,100 tons accounted for almost all of the carbon product excess of intake over shipments. All other products except plate had a small surplus intake. Compared to the end of April last year, month end inventories were up by 3.2 percent in total, however, structurals and sheet accounted for all the increase. Bars, plate and tubulars experienced a decrease in months on hand at the end of April.