ZHENGYANG MACHINERY EQUIPMENT Co.,Ltd.

AISI: U.S. Steel Mill Shipments Surged

The U.S. steel mills shipped 8.328 million net tons in March this year. This is marginally higher by 0.3% when compared with the shipments during the same month in 2018, says the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). It must be noted that the mills had shipped 8.299 million net tons in March 2018. The shipments were up by 7.5% from the prior month. The steel shipments by the U.S. mills had totaled only 7.744 million net tons in February this year.

Several products reported notable change in shipment volumes in Mar ’19, as compared with the prior month. Upon comparison with the prior month, the Mar ’19 shipments of hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip were up sharply by 7%. The shipment of hot rolled sheets witnessed a jump of 8% over the previous month. Also, 6% month-on-month improvement was reported in shipments of cold rolled sheets.

The cumulative steel shipments during the initial three-month period of 2019 totaled 24.152 million net tons, higher by 2.9% when matched with the shipments of 23.461 million net tons in Jan-Mar ’18.

Meantime, the U.S. domestic raw steel production totaled 1.915 million net tons during the latest week for which production data was published. It represents 6.6% surge from production during corresponding week last year. The capacity utilization rate during the week ended on May 4, 2019 was 82.3%, upon comparison with 77.6% a year before.