Steel Products Prices North America

March Raw Steel Production at 7.46 Million Tons, 72.1% Capacity

Written by Brett Linton

April 28, 2016

The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) recently reported final U.S. raw steel production estimates for the month of March 2016. The monthly estimates are different than the weekly estimates we report in our Tuesday issues; the AISI bases the monthly estimates on over 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting vs. only 50 percent for the weekly estimates.

Total raw steel production for the month of March was reported to be 7,462,757 net tons with 4,842,105 tons being produced by electric arc furnaces (EAF) and 2,620,652 tons produced by blast furnaces. March raw steel production was reported to be 381,482 tons or 5.4 percent higher than the previous month and 370,628 tons or 5.2 percent higher over the same month last year. March production levels are at the highest seen since August 2015 when total raw production was 7,645,334 tons.

Compared to the first three months of 2015, 2016 YTD production is down 1.1 percent to 21,660,809 tons. The table below shows that 6 of the 11 state-groups were reported as down over the same period last year.

The capacity utilization rate for the month of March 2016 was reported to be 72.1 percent, down from 73.1 percent in February but better than the 67.7 percent reported in March 2015 (note: there has been a reduction in available capacity between 2015 and 2016. This pushes the capacity utilization rate higher in 2016 for the same amount of steel produced).

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.

Read more from Brett Linton

Latest in Steel Products Prices North America