Steel Mills

Raw Steel Production Falls Further: AISI

Written by David Schollaert

April 3, 2023

Raw steel production by US mills slipped again last week, down 1.3% from the week prior, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Monday, April 3.

Domestic production stood at 1,658,000 net tons in the week ended April 1 vs. 1,679,000 net tons the previous week. It was off 3.7% from 1,721,000 net tons in the same week last year. After a month of repeated week-over-week increases, this marks back-to-back weekly declines.

The capability utilization rate was 74.2% last week, down from 75.1% a week earlier. Capability utilization was also down from 79.1% in the same week last year.

AISI said that adjusted year-to-date production through April 1 was 21,608,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 74.3%. This is down 4.1% from the 22,535,000 net tons produced during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate stood at 79.7%.

Production by region for the week ending April is below. (Note: week-over-week change is in parentheses.)

  • Northeast, 139,000 tons (down 11,000 tons)
  • Great Lakes, 562,000 tons (up 1,000 tons)
  • Midwest, 222,000 tons (up 11,000 tons)
  • South, 671,000 tons (down 27,000 tons)
  • West, 64,000 tons (up 5,000 tons)

WeeklyRawSteelProd Wk14

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.

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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