Steel Product Shipments and Inventories Through November

Overall, steel product shipments continued to improve through November, reporting an increase for the seventh consecutive month. Despite the gains, the improvement continues at a slower pace than the overall manufacturing economy. The market is still working to recover from the initial effects of the Covid-19 shutdowns back in April. As a result, despite the steady rebound, the market is still working towards pre-pandemic levels.

The Census Bureau provides monthly data on inventories, shipments and new orders for total U.S. manufacturing and for individual industries, one of which is steel products. Every two months, Steel Market Update analyzes Census data to provide a reality check for steel industry trade association data, which is most widely used to assess the state of the industry.