Steel shipments down 1.2 percent this year
Steel shipments down 1.2 percent this year
by Joseph S. Pete, Northwest Indiana Times
Steel shipments rose 0.9 percent in October from September, but were down 7.3 percent as compared to the same month last year.
U.S. steel mills shipped 6.83 million tons in October, up from 6.76 million tons the previous month but down significantly compared to the 7.37 million tons shipped in October 2015, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Shipments are a key economic metric for the steel industry because the figure reflects the amount of steel actually sold to customers.
In October, the most recent month for which data was available, shipments of hot rolled sheets fell 4 percent and cold rolled sheets dropped 2 percent. Hot dipped galvanized sheets and strips were unchanged.