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According to a survey conducted by the Copper & Brass Servicenter Association, a US-based trade group, US servicenter shipments of copper and brass products amounted to 22.7Mlbs (10,297t) in April, down by 7.0% m-o-m and down by 0.9% y-o-y. The m-o-m decline was largely attributed to weaker demand for 300-series brass rod and bar, as shipments declined by 9.9%, reaching 5.2Mlbs. Servicenters enjoyed a good Q1 as shipment levels rose to reach 72.7Mlbs (32,736t), up by 4.2% y-o-y, with the peak of the quarter occurring in March, just as it did in 2011. Over 50% of servicecenters surveyed believed that incoming orders will stay at the same level in June-August 2012 as they were in March-May 2012.

The US Copper and Brass Servicenter Association expects that orders in Q1 will increase despite the fall in December. It was reported that 57% of service centres are expecting an increase in incoming orders over the next three months compared with Q4 2010, up from 44% in November. However, promptness of payment may be an issue as 36% of service centres foresee payments to be less prompt in Q1 2011 compared to Q4 2010, up from 17% of respondents in November.

The Copper and Brass Servicenter Association reported that shipments of brass mill products amounted to 20.24Mlbs in May 2011, up by 0.4% on the previous month and down 11.3% y-o-y. This comes after a 13% fall in April from 25Mlbs in March, which was the peak that service centers experienced in Q1. Industry sources attributed the flattening in shipment levels in May to a decline in general consumer activity, also indicated by the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index falling from 60.4 to 53.5. In addition, it was reported that US brass mills are expecting lead times to narrow or flatten during Q3. Lead times are currently two to five weeks, having previously lengthened in early Q2. Lead times tend to be longer when consumer and service center demand is weak.

The Copper and Brass Servicenter Association reported that shipments of brass mill products amounted to 23.1Mlbs in June 2011, up slightly from 23.0Mlbs on the previous month and down by 6.5% y-o-y. The positive signs of growth that were registered earlier in this year, which peaked during March as shipments reached 25Mlbs, subsequently dropped and levelled off in Q2. Slower growth in June compared with the same month last year is attributed to shipments of brass products falling 12.8Mlbs, down by 12% y-o-y, with the largest drops in shipments occurring within the brass sheet, rod and bar product segments.

The US-based Copper and Brass Servicenter Association, a trade group representing primarily North American brass mills, reported that shipments of brass mills products amounted to 19.68Mlb (8,927t) in September, a decline of 14.9% from August and an annual decline of 8.1%. Shipments of copper sheet fell by 21.7% m-o-m or 961,000lb to 3.45Mlb (436t to 1,565t) and copper rod declined by 14.4% m-o-m or 807,000lb to 4.77Mlb (366t to 2,164t). Shipments of brass sheet and alloy tube also registered declines in September compared to the previous month, 6.9% m-o-m and 37.4% m-o-m respectively. The survey reported that half of participants expected orders to fall in the coming quarter compared to the previous quarter. When asked about lead times, half of the suppliers surveyed reported that their lead times had shortened in September compared to the previous three months.

According to data from the Copper and Brass Servicenter (CBSA), shipments from US brass and copper mills fell 8.6% m-o-m in November, to 20.5Mlb (9,300t). The organisation said that total shipments in the first 11 months of the year were broadly unchanged from 2011, at 244.8Mlb (111,000t). A breakdown of the figures reveals that copper sheet and copper wirerod saw the smallest declines in the month, -5.2% m-o-m and -5.3% m-o-m respectively, whilst brass sheet was the worst performing sector recording an output drop of 11.7% m-o-m. In a survey released with the data, 83% of respondents said they expected orders to increase in the coming 3 months.

According to data from the Copper and Brass Servicenter Association(CBSA), total shipments from US brass and copper mills slipped 1.1% y-o-y in 2012, to 261.5Mlb (118,600t). Data from November had indicated that year-to-date shipments were roughly unchanged from 2011, however, a 16.9% m-o-m drop in shipments in December tipped total shipments into contraction territory for the year. In general, copper semis shipments were stronger than alloy shipments, with copper rod shipments up 8.3% in 2012, to 64.4Mlb (29,200t). Total alloy shipments fell 5.4% in 2012, to 139.6Mlb (63,300t), with 300-series alloy RBS shipments declining by the largest amount in the year, falling 11.9% to 61.3Mlb (27,800t).

According to Aurubis Buffalo's vice president of marketing and sales, demand for brass mill products in the US has been strong so far in 2013. The company has seen a strong pickup in demand from sectors including ammunition, electronics, heating and HVAC so far this year. The executive said that lead times at service centers were longer than eight weeks in January for flat-rolled products and that the company is considering hiring more workers at its Buffalo operation to meet the demand.

The demand for copper flat-rolled products softened coming into March after a strong start to the year, according to sources at some US service centers. Lead times for some copper products, which were quoted as long as eight weeks back in January, may have shorted to six weeks or less in March according to an American Metal Market report. A drop in demand for appliances and connectors market was noted by some sources contacted by AMM, but sales of ammunition, a key end-use of flat-rolled brass, have remained buoyant since the start of the year.

Copper and Brass Servicenter Association (CBSA) reported shipments increased by 1.5% month-on-month in July. The association said the increase was a surprise as July shipments historically follow the trend of the previous month. In July, copper and copper alloy shipments decreased by 2.8% year-on-year while average daily shipping rate went down by 7.2%. Total warehouse inventories dropped by 2.8%. The association also said that it is getting more difficult to search for 'positive economic news' as the months go by.