Steel shipments in the United States increased by 2 percent

The latest report released by the American Institute of Iron and Steel (AISI), an association of North American steel producers, shows that US steel shipments in May 2014 increased 2 percent from the previous month. In addition, shipments in May of this year were up 4.4 percent from the figures recorded during the same month of the previous year.

The products that recorded a noticeable increase in shipments during May 2014 compared to the previous month are: hot-rolled sheets by 3 percent, hot-dip galvanized sheets and strips by 1 percent and cold-rolled sheets by 2.0 percent.

US steel mills shipped 8,398,976 tonnes in May, up 2 percent from a total shipments of 8,235,096 tonnes in April this year, according to AISI. In addition, steel shipments during May increased significantly over the year. In May 2014, steel shipments increased by 4.4 percent compared to shipments of 8,047,245 tonnes of products during May 2013.

Steel shipments in the first five months of this year in the United States rose 2.2 percent to 40,485 thousand tons, compared with 39,595 thousand tons of shipments during the corresponding five-month period in 2013. This is due to an increase in housing construction projects in the country, repair of bridges and highways, and the growth of mechanical engineering and the automotive industry.