Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Raw Steel Production Nears 82 Percent Capacity

February 26, 2019

For the week ending Feb. 23, domestic raw steel production totaled 1,907,000 net tons. The mills achieved an average capability utilization rate of 81.9 percent, up 1.1 percent from the prior week and 5.0 percent from the same period last year.

The U.S. steel industry has produced 14,644,000 tons of steel so far in 2019, an 8.0 percent increase from the same period last year. Mill utilization has averaged 80.9 percent this year, up substantially from the 75.7 percent in 2018, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Following is production by district for the Feb. 23 week: North East: 211,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 682,000 net tons; Midwest, 205,000 net tons; South, 736,000 net tons; and West, 73,000 net tons, for a total of 1,907,000 tons. Production for the week was up in the South and Great Lakes, but down slightly in the North East, Midwest and West.

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.