US service centers shipped 258,800 mt of aluminum products in February, up 7.7% from the same month a year ago, the Metals Service Center Institute said Monday in a statement.
Inventories of aluminum products at the end of February stood at 377,800 mt, up 4% from February 2013. This represents three months of aluminum inventory at the current shipping rate, down from 3.2 months the same month a year ago, MSCI said.
Illinois-based MSCI also noted that Canadian service centers shipped 25,600 mt of aluminum products in February, 0.6% higher than the same month last year.
Canadian service center inventories of aluminum products were 39,300 mt in February, up 3% from a year ago. At the current shipping rate, Canada's aluminum distributors were carrying 3.3 months of supply in inventory, up from 3.2 months a year ago.
