U.S., Canadian steel, aluminum inventories fell in March

Steel and aluminum product inventories at U.S. and Canadian metals service centers fell in March as U.S. shipments of both metals continued their long-term rise, and Canadian aluminum shipments rose at a double-digit rate, the MSCI Metals Activity Report shows.

U.S. service centers shipped 5.3 million tons of steel products during March, an increase of 5.9 percent from March 2005 and the eighth consecutive month of rising year-over-year shipments. For the first quarter, service center steel shipments totaled 14.7 million tons, or 4.4 percent more than the same quarter in 2005. Steel product inventories at the end of March totaled 13.5 million tons, down 13.6 percent from March 2005. At the current shipping rate, this represents a 2.5-month supply of steel, down 18.4 percent from last year and 13.2 percent from February 2006.

Aluminum shipments from U.S. service centers totaled 116,800 tons, an increase of 6.1 percent from March 2005. First-quarter shipments of 319,900 tons were up 6.9 percent from the 2005 quarter. Aluminum product shipments have recorded year-over-year increases every month for the last two years.

Aluminum inventories at the end of March were 344,500 tons, down 5.7 percent from a year ago. At the current shipping rate, this represents a 3.0-month supply, down 11.1 percent from a year ago and a decrease of 15.1 percent from February.

Steel product shipments from Canadian metals service centers totaled 369,800 tons during March, down 1.9 percent from March 2005. First-quarter shipments of 1.05 million tons of steel were off 0.8 percent from the 2005 quarter in Canada. At the end of March, steel product inventories totaled 1.05 million tons, down 21.8 percent from a year ago. At the current shipping rate, this represents a 2.8-month supply, a decrease of 20.3 percent from the end of March 2005 and down 10.5 percent from February 2006.

Canadian service center aluminum shipments totaled 11,200 tons, up 8.3 percent from March a year ago. First-quarter aluminum product shipments were 30,400 tons, 6.6 percent higher than the 2005 quarter. Aluminum inventories totaled 30,200 tons at the end of March, down 5.3 percent from a year ago. At the current shipping rate, this represents a 2.7-month supply in Canada, a decrease of 12.5 percent from last year and down 11.9 percent from last month.