Steel Products Prices North America

Raw Steel Production Remains Near Same Level

June 18, 2018

Raw steel production for the week ending June 16 totaled 1,740,000 net tons, a 0.4 percent decrease from the same period last year and down 0.7 percent from the previous week, but little changed from week to week since briefly topping the 1.8 million ton mark in March and April. The mill capability utilization rate for the June 16 week averaged 74.2 percent, down slightly from 74.8 percent in the prior week and 74.9 percent in the same week last year. Raw steel capability utilization for the year peaked in March at 78.7 percent, reports the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Adjusted year-to-date producton through June 16 totaled 42,061,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 75.4 percent. That’s up 1.7 percent from 41,344,000 tons in the same period last year when the capability utilization was 74.4 percent.

Following is production by district for the week of June 16: North East: 217,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 630,000 net tons; Midwest, 172,000 net tons; South, 644,000 net tons; and West, 77,000 net tons, for a total of 1,740,000.

Note, mill capability for second-quarter 2018 is approximately 30.5 million tons, compared to 30.3 million tons for the same period last year and 30.0 million tons for first-quarter 2018.

The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage from 50 percent of the domestic producers combined with monthly production data for the remainder. Therefore, this report should be used primarily to assess production trends. The AISI monthly production report provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing 75 percent of U.S. production capacity.