Weekly Raw Steel Production Down

For the week ending November 1, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,815,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.1 percent decrease over the previous week and a 0.9 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 75.5 percent, down from 76.3 percent last week and down from 76.5 percent last year.

Estimated total raw steel produced for 2014 YTD is reported to be 80,713,000 tons, up 0.4 percent from the 80,354,000 tons produced during the same period in 2013. The average capacity utilization rate for 2014 YTD is estimated to be 77.1 percent, up from 77.0 percent for 2013 YTD. Note that there has been a change in production capability for 2014–comparisons between 2013 and 2014 capacity utilization rates are against different production levels, so the total tonnage figures are best suited for yearly comparisons.