According to the latest Metals Activity Report from US based Metals Service Center Institute, US and Canadian metals service centers, which rose from year ago levels in April, were lower again in May. Customers appear to be operating very close to the vest with no discernable momentum building in either direction.

Although inventories of both metals continued to be well below year-ago levels, US steel inventories rose slightly from stocks on hand at the end of April.

May shipments of steel products from US metals service centers fell 7.2%, to 4.36 million tons, from May 2007 levels. US steel shipments for the year to date of 22.06 million tons are 3.7% lower than shipments for the period last year. At the end of May, steel inventories totaled 12.54 million tons, 10.8% lower than a year ago and, at current shipping rates, equal to a 2.9 month supply.

May steel shipments from Canadian metals service centers fell 7.5% to 313,500 tons, bringing shipments for the first five months of the year to nearly 1.6 million tons, or 2.1% lower than during the same period of 2007. At the end of May, Canadian inventories totaled 1.08 million tons of steel, down 14.2% from a year ago and equal to a 3.4 month supply at current shipping rates.

The Metals Activity Report, based on data from metals service centers in the United States and Canada, is produced by the Metals Service Center Institute and a third party econometrics and strategy firm, McCoy, Scott & Co.

Founded in 1909, the Metals Service Center Institute has more than 420 members operating from about 1,200 locations in the US, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere in the world. Together, MSCI members constitute the largest single group of metals purchasers in North America, amounting each year to more than 65 million tons of steel, aluminum, and other metals, with about 300,000 manufacturers and fabricators as customers.