U.S.Raw Steel Output Slumped 29% in the Most Recent Week

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The domestic raw steel production data published by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) for the most recent week suggests slight jump in U.S. mill capacity utilization rates over the prior week. The Great Lakes region reported marginal increase in output, whereas the output by the Southern region recorded marginal fall.

For the week ending on July 18, 2020, the domestic raw steel production totalled 1.306 million net tons. Over the previous week, the production recorded marginal increase by 1.3%. It must be noted that the U.S. steel mills had produced 1.289 million net tons during the week ending on July 11, 2020. The capacity utilization rate for the current week, at 58.3%, too was up from the prior week’s rate of 57.5%.

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Year-on-year, the current week’s production has recorded sharp decline by 29.3%. The production during the corresponding week last year had totalled 1.847 million net tons. The capacity utilization rate a year before was 79.4%.

The adjusted year-to-date production through July 18, 2020 was 43.233 million net tons, down by nearly one-fifth from 53.860 million net tons during the corresponding period in 2019. The capability utilization rate during the year-to-date period last year was 80.9%, AISI data said.

The leading producer was the Southern region, with an output of 521,000 net tons, followed by Great Lakes with 450,000 net tons. The production by the other regions was as follows: Midwest (135,000 net tons), North East (143,000 net tons) and Western (57,000 net tons).