Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Raw Steel Production Stays Above 81 Percent

May 28, 2019

The U.S. mill capability utilization rate saw a slight dip for the second week in a row, to a still healthy 81.3 percent for the week ending May 25. Raw steel production declined by 0.4 percent from the previous week to 1,892,000 net tons. The week’s production represented a 4.6 percent increase from the same period last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Adjusted year-to-date production through May 25 totaled 39,417,000 tons at an average capability utilization rate of 81.8 percent, a tonnage increase of 6.4 percent from the same period last year when the utilization rate was 76.6 percent

Following is production by district for the May 25 week: North East: 192,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 727,000 net tons; Midwest, 207,000 net tons; South, 692,000 net tons; and West, 74,000 net tons, for a total of 1,892,000 tons. Production saw small increases in the Midwest and West and declines in the other 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 second-quarter 2019 is approximately 30.3 million tons compared to 30.5 million tons for the same period last year and 29.9 million tons for first-quarter 2019.