Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Steel Production Takes a Small Step Back

September 1, 2020

After 11 straight weeks of increased steel production, raw steel output and mill capability utilization took a slight step backward last week. Raw steel output by U.S. mills totaled 1,383,000 net tons in the week ending Aug. 29, with the mills at an average utilization rate of 61.7 percent. Production in the Aug. 29 week was down 2.1 percent from the prior week when the utilization rate was 63.0 percent, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Adjusted year-to-date production through Aug. 29 totaled 51,841,000 net tons at an average utilization rate of 66.0 percent. That’s down 20.1 percent from the same period last year when the utilization rate was 80.7 percent, AISI said.

Following is production by district for the Aug. 29 week: North East: 113,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 478,000 net tons; Midwest, 162,000 net tons; South, 556,000 net tons; and West, 74,000 net tons, for a total of 1,383,000 tons and a net decrease of 29,000 tons. Production was down in three of the five regions with small increases in the Midwest and West.

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 third-quarter 2020 is approximately 29.4 million tons, compared to 30.6 million tons for the same period last year and 29.1 million tons for the second quarter of 2020.