Steel Products Prices North America

Raw Steel Production Takes a Small Dip

June 9, 2020

Steel mill utilization by domestic producers has remained fairly stable within a tight range in the low 50s since production was curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus. The American Iron and Steel Institute’s weekly production data shows no signs yet of the recovering economy.

Steel production in the week ending June 6 totaled 1,195,000 net tons with the mills operating at an average utilization rate of 53.3 percent. Production was down 0.9 percent from the prior week when the utilization rate was 53.8 percent, reported AISI. The current week’s production represents a 36.0 percent decrease from the same week last year.

Adjusted year-to-date production through June 6 totaled 35,491,000 net tons at an average utilization rate of 68.6 percent–down 16.9 percent from production in the same period last year when the average utilization rate was 81.4 percent.

Following is production by district for the June 6 week: North East: 113,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 411,000 net tons; Midwest, 117,000 net tons; South, 500,000 net tons; and West, 54,000 net tons, for a total of 1,195,000 tons. Production decreased in three of the five regions by a net total of 11,000 tons.

Note: 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. Capability for second-quarter 2020 is approximately 29.1 million tons, compared to 30.3 million tons for the same period last year and 30.1 million tons for the first quarter of 2020.