Canadian Service Center Shipments and Inventories in December

Steel shipments by Canadian service centers in December totaled 280,100 net tons, down 29.8 percent from the previous month, and down 3.4 percent from December 2016, reports the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI). On a daily basis, total shipments were 14,700 tons per day in December (a 20-day month), down from 19,000 tons per day in November (a 21-day month), but up compared to a year ago when they were 14,500 tons per day (a 20-day month). Total steel inventories at the end of the month were 1,134,400 tons, unchanged from last month, but down 3.1 percent from this time last year.

The daily average receipt rate for December was 14,737 tons per day, down from 17,286 in November. Total December steel receipts were 280,000 tons, down 83,000 tons over November. According to MSCI, total steel product inventories in Canada stood at 4.0 months at the end of December, up from 2.8 months the month before.