The monthly steel shipment data published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) suggests notable decline during the month of April this year compared with April 2019. The shipments plunged over the prior month as well. The year-to-date shipments by mills too were down sharply over 2019.

According to AISI data, the steel mills shipped 5.623 million net tons in April this year. This is down by 31.5% from the shipments of 8.210 million net tons in April 2019. The shipments during the month recorded 27.9% decline from the prior month. It must be noted that the March 2020 shipments had totalled 7.802 million net tons.

The AISI data indicates that year-to-date steel shipments totalled 29.733 million net tons in 2020. This is modestly lower by 8.1% when matched with those during the corresponding period in 2019. The shipments had totalled 32.362 million net tons during January to April in 2019.

The report provides month-on-month comparison of shipment volumes of various steel products. The shipments of hot dipped galvanized sheet and strip declined by 35% from March 2020. The shipments of hot rolled sheet and cold rolled sheet were down by 31% and 29% respectively.