Steel Mill Shipments by the U.S. Soared 8% in March

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): According to the recent statistics published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the steel shipments by the U.S. mills witnessed notable increase during the month of March 2018. This is upon comparison with the shipments during the same month a year before. Also, March ’18 shipments increased considerably from the prior month.

The U.S steel mill shipments totaled 8.299 million net tons in March 2018. The shipments surged higher by 10.3% from the previous month. The U.S. steel mills had shipped 7.526 million net tons in February this year. The March ’18 shipments were up by 7.9% over the previous year. The shipments had totaled only 7.692 million net tons in March last year. The combined steel mill shipments during the first three months of the year totaled 23.461 million net tons, marginally higher by 3.7% when compared with the shipments of 22.633 million net tons during the corresponding three-month period in 2017.

Several products reported notable jump in shipments in March, upon comparison with the prior month. The shipments of hot rolled sheets were up by 12%. Hot dipped galvanized sheets and strip shipments recorded 11% jump over the previous month. The shipments of cold rolled sheets surged higher by 10% month-on-month.

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Meantime, the domestic raw steel production during the week ending May 5, 2018 totaled 1.779 million net tons. The capability utilization rate of US steel mills was 75.90% during the week. The weekly production was up by 3.5% when compared with the same period last year and by 1.4% over the prior week. The district wise crude steel production during the week in thousands of net tons is as follows: North East- 216, Great Lakes-670, Midwest-148, Southern-667 and Western-78.

The cumulative production through May 5, 2018 was up marginally by 1.7% from 30.971 million net tons in 2017 to 31.502 million net tons in 2018. The U.S. mills recorded capability utilization rate of 74.4% during the year-to-date period.