Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Raw Steel Production Nears 2018 Peak

July 31, 2018

U.S. raw steel production topped the 1.8 million ton mark for the second week in a row and mill utilization, at 78.3 percent, almost equaled this year’s peak of 78.7 percent achieved in March, reports the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. Raw steel output for the week ending July 28 totaled 1,836,000 net tons, a 5.9 percent increase from the same period last year and up 1.2 percent from the previous week. The mill capability utilization rate for the July 28 week of 78.3 percent was up from 77.4 percent in the prior week and from 74.3 percent in the same week last year.

Adjusted year-to-date producton through July 28 totaled 53,356,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 76.4 percent. That’s up 3.1 percent from 51,770,000 tons in the same period last year when the capability utilization was 74.4 percent.

Following is production by district for the week of July 28: North East: 205,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 685,000 net tons; Midwest, 190,000 net tons; South, 684,000 net tons; and West, 72,000 net tons, for a total of 1,836,000.

Note, mill capability for third-quarter 2018 is approximately 30.8 million tons, compared to 30.6 million tons for the same period last year and 30.5 million tons for second-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.