U.S. Steel Shipments Surged 5.6%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The steel shipments by the U.S. mills surged higher significantly during the opening month of 2020.

In accordance with data published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the steel shipments totalled 8,535,755 net tons in January 2020. This is higher by 6.4% from the previous month. The U.S. steel mills had shipped 8,021,250 net tons in December 2019. Also, the shipments were up by 5.6% compared to 8,079,757 net tons shipped in January last year.

The product to record largest increase in shipment volume when compared with December 2019 was hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip, whose shipments recorded 13% month-on-month surge. The shipments of cold rolled sheets and hot rolled sheets were up by 12% and 6% respectively.

Meantime, the domestic raw steel production totalled 1,903,000 net tons in the week ending on March 7, 2020. The most recent week production data suggests marginal decline by 0.5% from the same period a year before. However, the adjusted year-to-date production through March 7, 2020, at 18.253 million net tons, stood marginally higher by 0.6% from the corresponding period in 2019. The mills in the Southern region, with a total output of 704,000 net tons, led the production surge.