Steel Products Prices North America

Monthly Raw Steel Production Rises to 7.6 Million Tons in May

Written by Brett Linton

July 8, 2017

Total raw steel production for the month of May was 7,606,893 net tons, with 5,168,112 tons produced by electric arc furnaces (EAF) and 2,438,781 tons produced by blast furnaces. May raw steel production was 231,724 tons or 3.1 percent higher than the previous month, but 86,653 tons or 1.1 percent lower than the same month last year, reports the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) in Washington. AISI’s monthly estimates are different than the weekly estimates we report, in that the monthly estimates are based on over 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting versus only 50 percent reporting for the weekly estimates.

As seen in the table below, 8 of the 11 state groups reported an increase in month-over-month production. This is the highest monthly production figure since January 2017 when it was 7,688,725 tons.

Compared to the first five months of 2016, 2017 year-to-date (YTD) production was up 2.0 percent to 37,350,603 tons. The table below shows that 8 of the 11 state groups reported increased YTD production compared to the same period last year.

The capacity utilization rate for May 2017 was 73.7 percent, up from 73.6 percent in April, but down from 74.3 percent one year ago. The yearly capacity utilization rate is 74.3 percent, down from 74.6 percent the month before, but up from 72.1 percent in May 2016.

SMU Note: An interactive graphic of our raw steel production history can be seen in the Analysis section of our website here. A condensed example is shown below. If you need help logging into or navigating the website, 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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