Steel Products Prices North America

Mill Capacity Utilization Nears 83 Percent

Written by Tim Triplett

April 9, 2019

U.S. raw steel production for the week ending April 6 increased by 0.8 percent from the previous week to 1,928,000 net tons, while the mill capability utilization rate inched up by about a half percentage point to 82.8 percent. The week’s production represented a 7.9 percent increase from the same period last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Adjusted year-to-date production through April 6 totaled 26,136,000 tons at an average capability utilization rate of 81.9 percent, an increase of 6.8 percent from the same period last year when the utilization rate was 76.5 percent

Following is production by district for the April 6 week: North East: 205,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 706,000 net tons; Midwest, 195,000 net tons; South, 746,000 net tons; and West, 76,000 net tons, for a total of 1,928,000 tons. Production increased in the South and Midwest, but decreased in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions.  

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

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