Steel Products Prices North America

October Raw Steel Production Down 9.1 Percent Year to Date

Written by Brett Linton

November 24, 2015

The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) recently reported final raw steel production estimates for the month of October 2015. The monthly estimates are different than the weekly estimates we report in our Tuesday issues; the AISI bases the monthly estimates on 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting vs. only 50 percent for the weekly estimates.

Total raw steel production for the month of October was reported to be 7,215,324 net tons with 4,710,481 tons being produced by electric arc furnaces (EAF) and 2,504,843 tons produced by blast furnaces. October raw steel production was reported to be 12,554 tons or 0.2 percent lower than the previous month and down 932,337 tons or 11.4 percent from the same month last year.

Compared to the first nine months of 2014, 2015 YTD production is down 9.1 percent to 73,909,309 tons. The table below shows that all 11 state-groups in the yearly comparison were reported as down.

The capacity utilization rate for the month of October 2015 was reported to be 68.1 percent, down from 70.5 percent in September and down from 76.5 percent in October 2014.

SMU Note: An interactive graphic of our raw steel production history can be seen in the Analysis section of our website here. If you need help logging into the website or navigating through it, please contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 800-432-3475.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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