(02-16-18)
January Shipments off to slow start in 2018 in Canada, good results in the U.S.. January shipments increased again for steel and aluminum in the U.S. but declined again for both metals in Canada. U.S. Service Center Activity: U.S. service center steel shipments in January 2018 increased 4.3% from January 2017. Steel product inventories increased 6.0% from January 2017. U.S. service center shipments of aluminum products in January increased by 12.7% from the same month in 2017. Inventories of aluminum products increased 5.5% from January a year ago. Canadian Service Center Activity: Canadian service center shipments of steel products in January 2018 decreased by 0.4% from January 2017. Steel product inventories decreased 2.1% from January a year ago. Canadian service center aluminum shipments in January decreased 1.9% from the same month in 2017. Inventories of aluminum products increased 3.4% from January a year ago.