Steel mills in the United States in July shipped 8.8 million net tons of steel, a 1.9 percent decrease compared to a year ago, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Shipments in July 2006 were 9 million net tons.
Steel shipments this July were also down 0.9 percent from 8.9 million net tons shipped in June.
On a year-to-date basis, shipments of steel are down 11.2 percent to service centers and distributors, 1.6 percent to auto-mobile manufacturers, 2.5 percent for construction and contractors' products, and 9.3 percent to oil and gas producers.
