Steel Products Prices North America

U.S. Mills Produced 4.2 Percent More Steel in October

Written by Brett Linton

December 15, 2020

U.S. raw steel production rose 4.2 percent in October to 6,861,000 net tons, as reported by the American Iron and Steel Institute.

AISI’s monthly raw steel production estimates are different than the weekly estimates SMU reports each Tuesday; the monthly estimates are based on over 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting versus only 50 percent reporting for the weekly estimates.

October raw production was 274,000 tons higher than in September, but down 1,130,000 tons (14.1 percent) compared to the same month one year prior. October production was above the 2020 monthly average of 6,609,000 tons. The January-October 2019 monthly average was 8,089,000 tons.

Broken down by production method, 4,702,000 tons (68.5 percent) were produced by electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 2,159,000 tons (31.5 percent) were produced by blast furnaces.

The mill capacity utilization rate for October averaged 70.1 percent, up from 68.6 percent in September, but down from 78.0 percent one year ago. The average capacity utilization rate for the year is now 67.1 percent, down from 80.1 percent in the same ten-month period of 2019.

SMU Note: Interactive versions of many of these raw steel production graphics can be seen in the Analysis section of our website here. We have detailed regional data available as well, as displayed in the example below showing production from the Southeast U.S. region. If you need assistance logging into or navigating the website, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.

Brett Linton

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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