Weekly Raw Steel Production: Christmas Lull

For the week ending December 24, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,636,000 net tons of raw steel, a 3.4 percent decrease over the previous week but a 10.2 percent increase over the same week one year ago (revised). The estimated capacity utilization rate is 69.0 percent, down from 71.4 percent last week but up from 62.1 percent this time last year.

Estimated total raw steel produced for 2016 YTD is reported to be 86,380,000 tons, down 0.6 percent from the 86,935,000 tons produced during the same period in 2015. The average capacity utilization rate for 2016 YTD is estimated to be 70.8 percent, up from 70.1 for 2015 YTD.