Steel Products Prices North America

Another Strong Week for Steel Production; Mill Utilization at 79.3 Percent

August 28, 2018

The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a mill capability utilization rate for the week ending Aug. 25 of 79.3 percent, down slightly from 79.5 percent in the prior week, but up from 75.8 percent in the same week last year.

Raw steel production for the week ending Aug. 25 totaled 1,858,000 net tons, the sixth week in a row that steel output topped 1.8 million tons. Steel production in the U.S. was down a slight 0.3 percent from the previous week but up 5.1 percent from the same period last year.

Adjusted year-to-date producton through Aug. 25 totaled 60,993,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 77.0 percent. That’s up 3.7 percent from 58,823,000 tons in the same period last year when the capability utilization was 74.6 percent.

Following is production by district for the week of Aug. 25: North East: 207,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 691,000 net tons; Midwest, 192,000 net tons; South, 683,000 net tons; and West, 5,,000 net tons, for a total of 1,858,000.

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.