US service centers shipped 121,700 mt of aluminum products in September, up 8.2% compared with September 2012, the Metals Service Center Institute said Tuesday.
Aluminum shipments in the first nine months of 2013 totaled 1.122 million mt, 3.4% below the same period last year, MSCI said in a statement.
Inventories of aluminum products were 362,700 mt at the end of September, a decrease of 3.7% compared with September 2012. MSCI said that at the current shipping rate, this represents three months of aluminum inventory, down from 3.3 months a year ago.
It also said 12,400 mt of aluminum products were shipped by Canadian service centers in September, 1.1% higher than in the same month last year. Canada's aluminum shipments in the first nine months of 2013 were 117,400 mt, 3.4% below 2012.
Canadian service center inventories of aluminum products were 35,000 mt in September, a decrease of 11.1% from September 2012's total.
Illinois-based MSCI noted that at the current shipping rate, Canada's aluminum distributors were carrying 2.8 months of supply in inventory, down from 3.2 months a year ago.
