Weekly Raw Steel Production Still Below 1.7 Million Tons

For the week ending March 26, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,675,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.4 percent increase over the previous week and a 4.6 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 71.6 percent, up from 71.3 percent last week and up from 67.7 percent this time last year (note that the capacity utilization rates in 2016 are based on new lower total capabilities with the removal of US Steel Fairfield from the mix.)

Estimated total raw steel produced for 2016 YTD is reported to be 21,530,000 tons, down 3.4 percent from the 22,280,000 tons produced during the same period in 2015. The average capacity utilization rate for 2016 YTD is estimated to be 70.3 percent, down from 72.1 percent for 2015 YTD.