Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Raw Steel Production Rises for Third Week
Written by Brett Linton
April 27, 2015
When we speak with the domestic steel mills one of the things we hear from them is that their order books have improved over the last three weeks. The weekly raw steel production report provided by the AISI is also catching this change in ordering and production patterns.
For the week ending April 25, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,707,000 net tons of raw steel, a 3.1 percent increase over the previous week but a 7.3 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 72.2 percent, up from 70.0 percent last week but down from 76.6 percent last year.
Estimated total raw steel produced for 2015 YTD is reported to be 28,128,000 tons, down 6.9 percent from the 30,224,000 tons produced during the same period in 2014. The average capacity utilization rate for 2015 YTD is estimated to be 72.4 percent, down from 77.0 percent for 2014 YTD.
Note that the total production capability figure for Q2 2015 is based on 30,700,000 tons versus 31,300,000 tons for Q2 2014 and 30,400,000 tons for Q1 2015.
Week-over-week changes per district are as follows: Northeast at 215,000 tons, up 8,000 tons. Great Lakes at 611,000 tons, up 56,000 tons. Midwest at 213,000 tons, up 2,000 tons. South at 579,000 tons, down 14,000 tons. West at 89,000 tons, unchanged. Total production was 1,707,000 tons, up 52,000 tons.
SMU Note (1): A large drop in raw steel production is a good sign for the current market conditions. It means the inventory adjustments that need to be made at the service centers are happening. This adjustment, combined with a marginal spread between foreign and domestic prices which dampens the need to buy foreign steel will result in a much stronger domestic market in the 2nd Half 2015.
SMU Note (2): You can view the interactive graphic on weekly raw steel production below when you are logged into the website and reading the newsletter online. If you have not logged into the website in the past and need your username and password, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by calling 800-432-3475. If you need help navigating the website we would also be very happy to assist you.
{amchart id=”84″ Weekly Raw Steel Production from AISI}

Brett Linton
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