Data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) show flat rolled steel product shipments were at their highest levels since November 2008. The new data show flat rolled shipments of 80,300 tons per day which is a 23.5% improvement over the 61,500 tons shipped per day in December and the best shipment rate since November 2008 when 82,200 tons were being shipped per day.

Flat rolled shipments in January 2010 were up 6% compared to January 2009 – which is another way of saying there is improvement but the shipments are still less than stellar. During the month of January 2008 the service centers were shipping 122,700 tons per day while during the same month one year earlier the shipment rate was 130,700 tons per day.

Flat rolled steel inventories increased to 3,596,100 tons and increase of 49,300 tons (1.4%) from the prior month.

Months of inventory on hand are now at 2.2 months both unadjusted and seasonally adjusted.

Total Steel Shipments Increase by 20.9%

Total steel shipments (all products) increased from 120,000 tons per day to 128,900 tons per day. Total steel shipped was 2,577,200 tons which was actually slightly less than the 2,600,800 tons shipped in January 2009. In January 2008 the service centers shipped 4,539,000 tons (all products).

Total steel inventories increased slightly in January 2010 to 6,258,300 tons and at the current shipment rate there are 2.4 months of steel on hand (unadjusted or 2.3 months seasonally adjusted).

Canadian Service Centers

According to the MSCI – total steel shipments from the Canadian service centers were 9.2% higher in January 2010 than one year ago. The Canadian service centers shipped 444,400 tons in January 2010. Inventories in Canada totaled 1.18 million tons which equates to a 2.7 month supply on hand.