by GMC SuzukiSteel shipments fall by 7.3% year-over-year
U.S. steel mills shipped 7.67 million tons of steel in July, the most recent month for which data is available, according to Washington, D.C.-based trade association American Iron and Steel Institute.
That’s a 7.3% decrease as compared to the 8.27 million tons shipped in July 2021 but a 0.9% increase from the 7.6 million tons shipped the previous month.
Last year, steel mills in the United States shipped 94.71 million tons of steel, up 16.9% as compared to the 81 million tons of steel shipped the previous year.
So far this year, steel shipments have totaled 53.64 million, which is down 1.1% as compared to 54.24 million tons shipped during the first seven months of 2021.
Steel shipments are a key metric of the financial health of the steel industry, as they reflect the amount of steel actually sold to customers, such as automakers, appliance manufacturers, construction firms and service centers that process the steel for a wide variety of end uses.
In the first seven months of 2022, shipments of hot-rolled sheet were down 5%, corrosion-resistant sheet and strip 6% and cold-rolled sheet down 12%, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Steel prices fell after hot-rolled coil rose to more than $2,000 a ton last year but remain high relative to normal market conditions.
In the United States, the price of hot-rolled band recently fell 6% to $805 a ton and cold-rolled coil rose 5% to $1,161 a ton, according to the steel pricing website SteelBenchmarker. Standard plate stayed flat at $1,789 a ton. Shredded scrap fell 6% to $403 a ton, heavy melting scrap rose 4% to $327 a ton and busheling scrap declined 3% to $405 a ton, reducing steelmakers’ input costs.
Source: NWI Times
