According to the Metals Service Center Institute, year-over-year growth picked up slightly in the United States for both steel and aluminum in February.
MSCI reported U.S. service center steel shipments in February increased by 0.4% from February 2013. Steel shipments for 2014 year-to-date increased by 0.2% from the same period in 2013. Steel product inventories increased 0.8% from February a year ago and 0.3% from last month.
U.S. service center shipments of aluminum products in February increased by 8.9% from the same month in 2013. Inventories of aluminum products decreased 1.2% from last month.
Canadian steel shipments declined, but at half the rate as in January.
