USA. Steel shipments up 6.3 percent year-to-date

USA. Steel shipments up 6.3 percent year-to-date. The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported on July 18 that for the month of May 2011, U.S. steel mills shipped 7,380,064 net tons, a 1.7 percent increase from the 7,258,534 net tons shipped in the previous month, April 2011, and a 0.5 percent increase from the 7,345,455 net tons shipped in May 2010. Shipments year-to-date in 2011 are 37,140,749, a 6.3 percent increase versus 2010 shipments of 34,940,934 for five months, according to AISI. 2011 shipments through May would annualize at 89 million tons. A month-to-month comparison of shipments shows the following changes: cold rolled sheet, up 4 percent, hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip, up 4 percent and hot rolled sheet, down 0.1 percent, the Institute reported.