Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Raw Steel Production Below 1.6 Million Tons

January 3, 2017

For the week ending December 31, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,592,000 net tons of raw steel, a 2.7 percent decrease over the previous week but a 7.2 percent increase over the same week one year ago (revised). The estimated capacity utilization rate is 67.1 percent, down from 69.0 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 87,972,000 tons, down 0.5 percent from the 88,419,000 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.

Week-over-week changes per district are as follows: Northeast at 205,000 tons, up 1,000 tons. Great Lakes at 647,000 tons, down 5,000 tons. Midwest at 163,000 tons, down 5,000 tons. South at 518,000 tons, down 29,000 tons. West at 59,000 tons, down 6,000 tons. Total production was 1,592,000 tons, down 44,000 tons.

Note that the AISI estimates capability for Q4 2016 at approximately 31.2 million tons compared to 31.4 million tons for the same period last year and 30.7 million tons for Q3 2016.

About Weekly Raw Steel Production Data

The weekly raw steel production tonnage provided by the AISI is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided by 50 percent of the domestic producers combined with monthly production data for the remainder. Therefore, this report should be used primarily to assess production trends. The monthly AISI production report provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing over 75 percent of U.S. production capacity.

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