Steel Shipments by the U.S. Mills Soared 5% in 2017

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest monthly trade statistics released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) suggests marginal drop in steel shipments by the US mills during the month of December last year. The total shipments reported a rise of 1.2% in December 2017, when matched with the shipments during the prior month. For the full year 2017, the steel shipments were up by nearly 5%.

The steel shipments by the US mills totaled 7,328,247 net tons in December 2017. The shipments registered a slight decline of 1.2% over the shipments during the month prior to that. The shipments had totaled 7,419,946 net tons in November 2017. Year-on-year, the mill shipments were up by 2.2%. In December 2016, the shipments had totaled only 7,173,245 net tons. It must be noted that the November 2017 steel shipments by the US mills had totaled 7,419,946 net tons.

The cumulative steel shipments by the US mills during the entire year 2017 totaled 90.89 million net tons, higher by nearly 5.0% when compared with the shipments of 86.53 million net tons during 2016.

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The shipment of hot rolled sheets surged higher by 6% in December 2017, upon comparison with the prior month. On the other hand, several products witnessed significant fall in shipment volumes. For instance, the shipment of hot dipped galvanized sheets and strips were down sharply by 8%. A decline of 7% was recorded in total monthly shipments of cold rolled sheets.

The full-year market share of US finished steel was estimated at 27%. The finished steel imports by the country had totaled 29.558 million net tons (NT) in 2017, when matched with the imports of 26.338 million NT in 2016. This represents a 12.2% jump over the year, mainly aided by the notable jump in imports of finished steel mill products from Russia. However, the market share plunged to 22% during the last month of 2017. The finished steel import permits had declined drastically in December 2017.