Steel Product Shipments and Inventories Through March

U.S. steel product shipments rose by 1.9% in March after slipping by 1.7% the month prior. The rebound follows February’s decline—the first decrease since bottoming out in April 2020—which was attributed to seasonal factors. Shipments of manufactured durable goods saw a similar blip. March steel shipments posted a 9.9% increase when compared to March 2020, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to Census Bureau data on inventories, shipments and new orders for total U.S. manufacturing and steel products.

Total shipments and inventories are reported in millions of dollars, seasonally adjusted. Year over year through March, total manufactured product shipments rose by 9.2%, the strongest increase since November 2011 and up 8.2% from the month prior. However, year-ago comparisons may be misleading due to the impact COVID-19 on the marketplace. When compared to the same pre-pandemic period in 2019, total manufactured product shipments were up 1.6% in March.

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

David Schollaert

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