For steel service centers, inventory management is the lifeblood of the business. Overstocking steel adds unnecessary costs while stocking too little results in missed sales, back orders, and unhappy customers. To gauge whether companies have the right amount of material on hand, service center purchasing managers need a reliable benchmark to compare their stock levels against their peers.
Steel Market Update (SMU) surveys key data providers each month to gather the latest information on steel sheet and plate inventories, available here to SMU Premium members. Data providers receive an enhanced version of the SMU Service Center Inventories Report that includes exclusive on-order data.
The charts and graphs below show final adjusted service center inventory and shipment data and are updated on the eleventh business day of each month.
Data through April 2025. May 2025 data will be released on May 16, 2025.
Sheet chart Sheet data Plate chart Plate data
SCI Plate Data
January 1, 2019
266,163
96,696
22.0
60.6
2.80
998
February 1, 2019
282,504
85,509
20.0
66.1
3.30
999
March 1, 2019
294,252
90,652
21.0
68.2
3.20
991
April 1, 2019
294,404
94,573
22.0
68.5
3.10
964
May 1, 2019
272,046
97,426
22.0
61.4
2.80
920
June 1, 2019
251,142
89,011
20.0
56.4
2.80
848
July 1, 2019
233,542
90,482
22.0
55.5
2.60
776
August 1, 2019
247,381
104,465
22.0
52.1
2.40
798
September 1, 2019
245,332
101,705
20.0
48.2
2.40
744
October 1, 2019
273,092
104,473
23.0
60.1
2.60
666
November 1, 2019
244,611
81,303
19.0
57.2
3.00
663
December 1, 2019
262,880
87,014
20.0
60.4
3.00
688
January 1, 2020
266,912
121,349
22.0
48.4
2.20
705
February 1, 2020
256,950
104,904
20.0
49.0
2.40
686
March 1, 2020
247,646
104,483
22.0
52.1
2.40
652
April 1, 2020
257,574
79,408
22.0
71.4
3.20
609
May 1, 2020
238,735
78,319
20.0
61.0
3.00
595
June 1, 2020
222,982
83,561
22.0
58.7
2.70
613
July 1, 2020
214,353
86,205
22.0
54.7
2.50
603
August 1, 2020
223,320
82,433
21.0
56.9
2.70
593
September 1, 2020
224,157
91,771
21.0
51.3
2.40
617
October 1, 2020
209,415
100,462
22.0
45.9
2.10
648
November 1, 2020
211,203
87,747
19.0
45.7
2.40
696
December 1, 2020
210,048
90,896
22.0
50.8
2.30
826
January 1, 2021
210,271
90,425
20.0
46.5
2.30
965
February 1, 2021
201,780
86,614
20.0
46.6
2.30
1,056
March 1, 2021
191,077
102,224
23.0
43.0
1.90
1,126
April 1, 2021
196,718
96,439
21.0
42.8
2.00
1,205
May 1, 2021
198,502
87,800
20.0
45.2
2.30
1,355
June 1, 2021
195,080
97,431
22.0
44.0
2.00
1,456
July 1, 2021
204,130
86,399
21.0
49.6
2.40
1,576
August 1, 2021
220,963
90,038
22.0
54.0
2.50
1,686
September 1, 2021
222,337
85,076
21.0
54.9
2.60
1,759
October 1, 2021
234,799
81,853
21.0
60.2
2.90
1,804
November 1, 2021
234,826
78,076
20.0
60.2
3.00
1,798
December 1, 2021
251,862
75,078
20.0
67.1
3.40
1,806
January 1, 2022
245,243
92,007
21.0
56.0
2.70
1,809
February 1, 2022
223,196
87,369
20.0
51.1
2.60
1,805
March 1, 2022
203,928
105,577
23.0
44.4
1.90
1,837
April 1, 2022
207,283
85,882
20.0
48.3
2.40
1,903
May 1, 2022
231,914
88,202
21.0
55.2
2.60
1,899
June 1, 2022
220,801
88,848
22.0
54.7
2.50
1,819
July 1, 2022
225,297
70,608
20.0
63.8
3.20
1,803
August 1, 2022
214,304
82,993
23.0
59.4
2.60
1,728
September 1, 2022
200,857
83,976
21.0
50.2
2.40
1,679
October 1, 2022
187,469
83,180
21.0
47.3
2.30
1,605
November 1, 2022
192,023
76,337
20.0
50.3
2.50
1,560
December 1, 2022
199,216
69,476
20.0
57.3
2.90
1,435
January 1, 2023
192,657
88,336
21.0
45.8
2.20
1,436
February 1, 2023
198,118
88,128
20.0
45.0
2.20
1,458
March 1, 2023
193,284
108,434
23.0
41.0
1.80
1,530
April 1, 2023
210,668
86,822
19.0
46.1
2.40
1,559
May 1, 2023
222,668
88,429
22.0
55.4
2.50
1,528
June 1, 2023
232,786
88,187
22.0
58.1
2.60
1,495
July 1, 2023
232,208
77,440
20.0
60.0
3.00
1,505
August 1, 2023
232,431
87,326
23.0
61.2
2.70
1,473
September 1, 2023
235,731
74,201
20.0
63.5
3.20
1,463
October 1, 2023
232,021
82,553
22.0
61.8
2.80
1,464
November 1, 2023
230,538
74,706
20.0
61.7
3.10
1,365
December 1, 2023
229,349
65,649
19.0
66.4
3.50
1,408
January 1, 2024
242,345
84,157
22.0
63.4
2.90
1,391
February 1, 2024
248,158
88,572
21.0
58.8
2.80
1,333
March 1, 2024
237,398
82,244
21.0
60.6
2.90
1,265
April 1, 2024
241,541
91,075
22.0
58.3
2.70
1,223
May 1, 2024
241,480
86,940
22.0
61.1
2.80
1,158
June 1, 2024
229,234
77,666
20.0
59.0
3.00
1,124
July 1, 2024
222,732
80,473
22.0
60.9
2.80
1,038
August 1, 2024
217,634
83,972
22.0
57.0
2.60
993
September 1, 2024
211,527
80,275
20.0
52.7
2.60
953
October 1, 2024
202,802
89,059
23.0
52.4
2.30
916
November 1, 2024
198,095
74,552
19.0
50.5
2.70
879
December 1, 2024
204,971
70,536
20.0
58.1
2.90
861
January 1, 2025
212,382
86,107
22.0
54.3
2.50
865
February 1, 2025
209,905
85,598
20.0
49.0
2.50
994
March 1, 2025
211,674
97,321
21.0
45.7
2.20
1,175
April 1, 2025
213,743
86,357
22.0
54.5
2.50
1,189
SCI Sheet Data
January 1, 2019
1,448,426
631,615
22.0
50.5
2.30
0.0000
February 1, 2019
1,304,732
513,638
20.0
50.8
2.50
0.0000
March 1, 2019
1,307,352
479,706
21.0
57.2
2.70
0.0000
April 1, 2019
1,959,495
771,448
22.0
55.9
2.50
0.0000
May 1, 2019
1,970,587
779,260
22.0
55.6
2.50
0.0000
June 1, 2019
1,949,683
765,847
20.0
50.9
2.50
0.0000
July 1, 2019
1,941,385
744,654
22.0
56.1
2.60
0.0000
August 1, 2019
1,921,404
758,151
22.0
55.8
2.50
0.0000
September 1, 2019
1,830,776
733,691
20.0
49.9
2.50
0.0000
October 1, 2019
1,770,466
765,220
23.0
53.2
2.30
0.0000
November 1, 2019
1,810,925
681,813
19.0
50.5
2.70
0.0000
December 1, 2019
1,862,685
592,230
20.0
62.9
3.10
0.0000
January 1, 2020
1,867,448
780,776
22.0
52.6
2.40
0.0000
February 1, 2020
1,930,523
741,729
20.0
51.7
2.60
0.0000
March 1, 2020
1,916,265
773,342
22.0
54.5
2.50
0.0000
April 1, 2020
1,958,775
537,816
22.0
80.1
3.60
0.0000
May 1, 2020
1,915,781
566,801
20.0
67.6
3.40
0.0000
June 1, 2020
1,852,552
651,657
22.0
62.5
2.80
0.0000
July 1, 2020
1,794,896
711,780
22.0
55.5
2.50
0.0000
August 1, 2020
1,713,606
739,848
21.0
48.6
2.30
0.0000
September 1, 2020
1,641,151
766,684
21.0
45.0
2.10
0.0000
October 1, 2020
1,552,516
792,873
22.0
43.1
2.00
0.0000
November 1, 2020
1,502,481
714,464
19.0
40.0
2.10
0.0000
December 1, 2020
1,561,229
669,228
22.0
51.3
2.30
0.0000
January 1, 2021
1,540,817
770,527
20.0
40.0
2.00
0.0000
February 1, 2021
1,569,635
734,910
20.0
42.7
2.10
0.0000
March 1, 2021
1,592,225
884,308
23.0
41.4
1.80
0.0000
April 1, 2021
1,588,164
798,303
21.0
41.8
2.00
0.0000
May 1, 2021
1,723,214
760,224
20.0
45.3
2.30
0.0000
June 1, 2021
1,762,724
814,844
22.0
47.6
2.20
0.0000
July 1, 2021
1,803,328
738,835
21.0
51.3
2.40
0.0000
August 1, 2021
1,864,799
795,487
22.0
51.6
2.30
0.0000
September 1, 2021
1,965,517
757,099
21.0
54.5
2.60
0.0000
October 1, 2021
1,993,854
739,008
21.0
56.7
2.70
0.0000
November 1, 2021
2,007,103
703,153
20.0
57.1
2.90
0.0000
December 1, 2021
2,109,944
660,404
20.0
63.9
3.20
0.0000
January 1, 2022
2,006,862
751,024
21.0
56.1
2.70
0.0000
February 1, 2022
1,947,593
715,836
20.0
54.4
2.70
0.0000
March 1, 2022
1,903,736
842,436
23.0
52.0
2.30
0.0000
April 1, 2022
1,921,160
746,914
20.0
51.4
2.60
0.0000
May 1, 2022
1,967,390
755,271
21.0
54.7
2.60
0.0000
June 1, 2022
1,920,361
768,289
22.0
55.0
2.50
0.0000
July 1, 2022
1,911,170
698,155
20.0
54.7
2.70
0.0000
August 1, 2022
1,828,285
779,958
23.0
53.9
2.30
0.0000
September 1, 2022
1,855,508
738,723
21.0
52.7
2.50
0.0000
October 1, 2022
1,854,940
741,867
21.0
52.5
2.50
0.0000
November 1, 2022
1,833,425
699,812
20.0
52.4
2.60
0.0000
December 1, 2022
1,966,939
643,107
20.0
61.2
3.10
0.0000
January 1, 2023
2,020,601
802,049
21.0
52.9
2.50
0.0000
February 1, 2023
1,953,985
748,956
20.0
52.2
2.60
0.0000
March 1, 2023
1,932,919
843,292
23.0
52.7
2.30
0.0000
April 1, 2023
1,956,484
727,722
19.0
51.1
2.70
0.0000
May 1, 2023
1,926,828
825,491
22.0
51.4
2.30
0.0000
June 1, 2023
1,888,306
793,843
22.0
52.3
2.40
0.0000
July 1, 2023
1,956,848
698,173
20.0
56.1
2.80
0.0000
August 1, 2023
1,952,374
829,418
23.0
54.1
2.40
0.0000
September 1, 2023
1,924,945
722,957
20.0
53.3
2.70
0.0000
October 1, 2023
1,877,149
785,856
22.0
52.6
2.40
0.0000
November 1, 2023
1,881,702
697,253
20.0
54.0
2.70
0.0000
December 1, 2023
2,034,529
596,151
19.0
64.8
3.40
0.0000
January 1, 2024
2,109,647
770,242
22.0
60.3
2.70
0.0000
February 1, 2024
2,108,196
782,120
21.0
56.6
2.70
0.0000
March 1, 2024
2,058,367
741,044
21.0
58.3
2.80
0.0000
April 1, 2024
2,096,434
797,561
22.0
57.8
2.60
0.0000
May 1, 2024
2,117,316
769,089
22.0
60.6
2.80
0.0000
June 1, 2024
2,164,633
710,410
20.0
60.9
3.00
0.0000
July 1, 2024
2,134,500
731,484
22.0
64.2
2.90
0.0000
August 1, 2024
2,329,918
773,186
22.0
66.3
3.00
0.0000
September 1, 2024
2,261,920
743,680
20.0
60.8
3.00
0.0000
October 1, 2024
2,181,638
791,887
23.0
63.4
2.80
0.0000
November 1, 2024
2,130,429
659,467
19.0
61.4
3.20
0.0000
December 1, 2024
2,253,846
584,369
20.0
77.1
3.90
0.0000
January 1, 2025
2,316,587
771,838
22.0
66.0
3.00
0.0000
February 1, 2025
2,229,943
761,628
20.0
58.6
2.90
0.0000
March 1, 2025
2,186,929
815,001
21.0
56.4
2.70
0.0000
April 1, 2025
2,093,288
798,887
22.0
57.6
2.60
0.0000
