ViaMetals Service Center Institute, U.S. service centers shipped 3,803.8 thousand tons of steel products in the month of March, which represents a 0.5% decrease from March 2011. Year-to-date steel shipments were 11,182.3 thousand tons, an increase of 7.2% from the same period in 2011. Steel product inventories were 8,869.3 thousand tons at the end of March, an increase of 10.6% over March 2011 and a decrease of 0.6% from February 2012. At the current shipping rate, this represents 2.3 months supply in inventory, an increase of 11.1% from a year ago.
A total of 135.5 thousand tons of aluminum products were shipped by U.S. Service Centers in March, a decrease of 4.1% from the same month in 2011.
