Raw Steel Production & Capacity Utilization Rates

The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported estimated raw steel production at 1,822,000 net tons for the week ending June 29, 2013.  Despite outages and maintenance issues, production rose through July to 1,904,000 net tons of raw steel in the week ending July 20, followed by a drop to 1,871,000 net tons in the final week of the month, ending on July 27.

Capacity utilization rose from 76.1 percent at the beginning of July to 79.5 percent in the week ending July 20.  Capacity utilization dropped to 78.1 percent in the week ending July 27 in tandem with reduced production estimates.

Year to date production ended the month of June at 55,364,000 net tons, down 4.9 percent from the same period in 2012.  Average capacity utilization for the year so far is estimated at 77 percent down from 78.9 percent YTD 2012. (Note: last year’s comparison includes now defunct RG steel tonnage capacity in the mix, skewing results.)