Steel Shipments Drop First Five Months

In May 2001, U.S. steel mills shipped 8.793 million net tons, a 9.4 percent decrease from the 9,708,000 net tons shipped last May.

Reduced shipments and historically low prices through June continue to reflect the serious injury that is being caused by unfairly traded and disruptive steel imports. The U.S. price of hot and cold-rolled sheet in June was down 26 and 21 percent, respectively, since last June, according to Purchasing Magazine.

A year-to-year comparison of shipments shows the following changes within major market classifications: service centers and distributors, up 2 percent; automotive, down 19.6 percent; construction and contractors' products, up 1.3 percent; oil and gas, up 7.1 percent; machinery, industrial equipment and tools, down 17.1 percent; appliances, utensils and cutlery, down 0.5 percent; containers, packaging and shipping materials, down 13.9 percent; and, electrical equipment, down 18.5 percent.

In the week ending July 14, 2001, domestic raw steel production was 1.784 million tons while the capability use rate was 74.5 percent. Production was 2.158 million tons for the week ending July 14, while the capability use then was 86.7 percent.

The current week production represents a -17.3 percent decrease from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending July 14, 2001 was down -3.2 percent from the previous week ending July 7, 2001, when production was 1,843,000 tons and the rate of capability utilization was 77.0 percent. Adjusted year-to-date production through July 14, 2001 was 53,826,000 tons, at a capability utilization rate of 78.8 percent. That is a decrease of -13.9 percent from the 62,489,000 tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 89.7%.