Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Raw Steel Production Recovers: AISI

Written by David Schollaert

July 5, 2022

Raw steel production by US mills recovered slightly last week following declines in the prior two weeks. Domestic capacity utilization rose to 80.9% while mill production totaled 1,767,000 net tons in the week ending July 2, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported.

US output was up 1% versus the week prior but 4.4% below the same year-ago period when production was 1,849,000 net tons. Mill capacity utilization last week was 0.7 percentage points above the prior week but 2.5 percentage points below the same period one year ago when utilization was 83.4%.

Adjusted year-to-date production through July 2 totaled 45,868,000 net tons, at an average utilization rate of 80.5%. That’s 2.2% below the same period last year when production was 46,900,000 net tons, though the utilization rate was lower at 79.4%, AISI said.

Production fell in three of five regions last week. Those declines were offset by increases in the Northeast and Great Lake regions. The Northeast saw the largest increase in both tons and week-on-week (WoW) percentage gains, up 16,000 net tons (+20.7%). The Great Lakes saw a 14,000-net-ton gain (+2.4%) versus the week prior.

Below is the production by region for the week ending July 2: Northeast, 165,000 tons; Great Lakes, 597,000 tons; Midwest, 204,000 tons; South, 737,000 tons; and West, 64,000 tons – for a total of 1,767,000 net tons, up 17,000 net tons from the prior week.

 WeeklyRawSteelProd Wk27

Note: The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided by approximately 50% of the domestic production capacity combined with the most recent monthly production data for the remainder. Therefore, this report should be used primarily to assess production trends. The AISI production report “AIS 7”, published monthly and available by subscription, provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing 75% of US production capacity.

Given the large number of changes to steelmaking capability in the current rapidly evolving market environment, AISI is undertaking a comprehensive review of its raw steel production and capability utilization statistics to ensure that they accurately reflect market conditions. Any updates to capability will be phased in over several weeks.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is a senior analyst 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. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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