AISI: Mill Utilization Rate Hits 81.5 Percent

Following is production by district for the Feb. 9 week: North East: 229,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 682,000 net tons; Midwest, 198,000 net tons; South, 713,000 net tons; and West, 75,000 net tons, for a total of 1,897,000 tons. Production for the week was up in the North East, Great Lakes and West, but down sightly in the Midwest and South. The biggest change was a 2.2 percent increase in the Great Lakes region, which had some ground to make up from the prior week’s production, which was slowed by severe winter weather conditions. 

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.

Note: Capability for first-quarter 2019 is approximately 30.5 million tons compared to 30.0 million tons for the same period last year and 30.8 million tons for fourth-quarter 2018.