U.S. Steel Mill Production Contracted on Gutted Consumer Sector Demand

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The U.S. steel mills operated at reduced capacity utilization rates, said the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The steel mill output recorded notable decline, primarily on account of lower demand from steel consuming sectors.

The nationwide steel capacity utilization rate during the previous week was 64.5%, which is down from 65.1% in the week before that and down from 77.4% from the corresponding week a year before. The year-to-date capacity utilization rate dropped from 80.3% in 2019 to 65.8% in 2020. The overall steel production by domestic mills dipped marginally to 1.446 million tons.

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The steel mills in the Great Lakes region made 527,000 tonnes of steel during the previous week ended September 19^th, 2020. This compares with 530,000 tonnes during the similar week last year.

The idling of plant operations by leading automakers such as Ford, General Motors and Honda in response to Covid-19 spread had resulted in huge drop in steel demand starting mid-March this year. The recent ramping up of operations at auto plants have led to steel demand recovery, which in turn has led to many local steel mills restarting their idled blast furnaces.

The steel production in Southern region dropped to 553,000 tonnes, as compared with 565,000 tonnes a week before. The production volumes in the rest of the Midwest too dropped, in comparison with the prior week.