Posted on 11 Apr 2019
The U.S. steel mills shipped 7.744 million net tons during the month of February this year. This is modestly higher by 2.9% when compared with the shipments during the same month in 2018, says the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). It must be noted that the mills had shipped only 7.526 million net tons in February last year. The shipments registered marginal decline by 4.2% from the prior month. The Jan ’19 steel shipments by the U.S. mills had totaled only 8.080 million net tons.
Several products reported notable change in shipment volumes in February this year, as compared with the prior month. Upon comparison with Jan ’19, the shipments of hot rolled sheet in February 2019 were up by 2%. The shipment of hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip witnessed a decline of 4% over the previous month. Also, 3% month-on-month decline was reported in cold rolled sheet shipments.
The year-to-date steel shipments by the U.S. mills surged higher by 4.4% over 2018 to total 15.824 million net tons. This compares with the shipment of 15.162 million net tons during Jan-Feb ’18.
The U.S. domestic raw steel production in the week ending April 6, 2019 totaled 1.928 million net tons (NT) at a capability utilization rate of 82.8%. The adjusted year-to-date raw steel production by the country totaled 26.136 million NT through the week ending April 6, 2019. The major producer was the Southern region, which accounted for approximately 39% of the country’s total weekly raw steel production.
