Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Raw Steel Production Seesaw Continues

Written by David Schollaert

April 20, 2021

Weekly raw steel production by U.S. mills, which totaled 1,770,000 net tons in the week ending April 17, has seen small up-and-down fluctuations over the past five weeks. Average mill utilization last week grew to 78.0%, up from 77.6% the week prior, but a big jump from the same period last year when production was just 1,240,000 net tons and mill utilization was historically low at 55.4%.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, which stalled the economy and steel production, year-ago comparisons are skewed and impractical. When compared with the more normal period in 2019, however, production is presently down 7.0%, as output totaled 1,903,000 net tons and mill utilization was 81.8% on April 20, 2019.

Adjusted year-to-date production through April 17 totaled 26,703,000 net tons, at an average utilization rate of 77.1%. That’s up 0.1% from the same period last year when the utilization rate was 73.7% and production was 26,665,000 net tons, AISI said.

Following is production by district for the April 17 week: North East, 164,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 603,000 net tons; Midwest, 183,000 net tons; South, 747,000 net tons; and West, 73,000 net tons for a total of 1,770,000 net tons. Production was up by 9,000 net tons compared to the week prior. The only district to post reduced output week-on-week was the Great Lakes.

Note: The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided from 50% of the domestic producers combined with monthly production data for the remainder. Therefore, this report should be used primarily to assess production trends. AISI’s monthly production report provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing 75% of U.S. production capacity. Capability for the first quarter of 2021 is approximately 29.1 million tons compared to 30.1 million tons for the same period last year and 29.1 million tons for the fourth quarter of 2020.

WeeklyRawSteelProd Wk16

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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