Service Center Shipments the Best for any July since 2008

Total service center carbon steel shipments in July increased by 11,600 tons to 3.539 million tons. Shipping days also increased, from 21 to 22. On a tons per day basis, (t/d) shipments decreased from 168,000 tons in June to 160,900 in July but the latest data has the best shipments of any July since 2008. Since 2004 there has only been one year when shipments did not decline in July on a t/d basis and daily shipments this July were up from 150.7 thousand tons in July last year. Comparing a month’s performance with the previous month is frequently misleading because of seasonal effects which is why in this analysis we always consider year over year changes.

Table 1 shows the performance by product in July compared to the same month last year and also with the average t/d for July 2014, July 2013 and July 2012. We then calculate the percent change between July 2014 and July 2013 and with the 3 year July average. We hope this give the best view of market direction. Shipments of all products on a t/d basis were up by 6.8 percent from July last year and up by 4.6 percent from the average July shipments for 2014, 2013 and 2012. The fact that the single month comparison has a greater improvement than the three year comparison leads us to the conclusion that the improvement is accelerating. This is particularly true of plate and carbon bar. All products had positive shipment growth on both time comparisons but structurals continue to lag the others. Sheet products were up by 7.0 percent year over year and by 5.5 percent in the three year comparison.