Steel Products Prices North America

Raw Steel Production Up 3.5 Percent for the Week

January 16, 2018

U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Jan. 13 totaled 1,707,000 net tons, a 1.7 percent decrease from the same period last year, but up 3.5 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 73.2 percent, up from 70.7 percent the prior week but down from 74.5 percent the prior year, reports the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington.

Adjusted year-to-date producton through Jan. 13 totaled 3,110,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 71.9 percent. That’s down 3.5 percent from the same period last year when the capability utilization was 74.5 percent.

Following is production by district for the week of Jan. 13: North East: 203,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 656,000 net tons; Midwest, 161,000 net tons; South, 614,000 net tons; and West, 73,000 net tons, for a total of 1,707,000.

The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage from 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 AISI monthly production report provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing 75 percent of U.S. production capacity. Note, the mill capability in fourth-quarter 2017 was about 30.6 million tons, compared to 30.7 million tons for the same period last year and 30.6 million tons for third-quarter 2017.

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