Steel Products Prices North America
Weekly Raw Steel Production Nears 82 Percent Capacity
Written by Tim Triplett
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.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
Nucor slows HRC price climb with $5/ton increase
After eight weeks of double-digit price increases on hot-rolled (HR) coil, Nucor slowed the price rise this week with an increase of $5 per short ton.
Domestic CRC prices surge ahead of imports
The price spread between stateside-produced CR and imports reached its widest margin in over a year.
Evraz raises plate prices $160/ton
Evraz North America (NA) has followed Nucor and SSAB with a plate price increase of its own: up $160 per short ton (st). The increase was effective immediately for all new orders of carbon, high-strength low-alloy, and normalized and quenched-and-tempered plate products, as well as for hot-rolled coil, the steelmaker said in a letter to […]
Nucor lifts HR coil to $820/ton
Nucor has increased its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil for a fourth consecutive week.
Nucor pushes HR spot price to $790/ton
Nucor increased its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $790 per short ton (st) on Monday, Feb. 10 – a $15/st bump vs. last week. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company has raised its weekly CSP by $40/st over the past three weeks after maintaining tags at $750/st since Nov. 12, according to SMU’s […]