Steel Products Prices North America

Raw Steel Production Jumps 2.4 Percent

Written by Tim Triplett

September 28, 2020

Raw steel production by U.S. mills jumped by 2.4 percent in the week ending Sept. 26 to 1,480,000 net tons, following a small dip in the previous week. The operating rate last week hit 66.1 percent, up from 64.5 percent in the prior week. The last time production topped 66 percent of the mills’ capability was 25 weeks ago, in the week ending April 4, 2020, when 1,534,000 tons were produced at a rate of 68.5 percent. Compared with the same week last year, however, production was still down by 17.8 percent, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Adjusted year-to-date production through Sept. 26 totaled 57,654,000 net tons at an average utilization rate of 65.8 percent. That’s down 20.1 percent from the same period last year when the utilization rate was 80.3 percent, AISI said.

Following is production by district for the Sept. 26 week: North East: 128,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 526,000 net tons; Midwest, 163,000 net tons; South, 590,000 net tons; and West, 73,000 net tons, for a total of 1,480,000 tons and a net increase of 34,000 tons. Production was up significantly in the South and West, but down in the other regions.

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. 

Tim Triplett

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