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Weekly Raw Steel Production: Mill Utilization Nears 80 Percent Mark

Written by Tim Triplett

August 21, 2018

U.S. mill capability utilization hit another new high for the year last week, moving closer to the 80 percent level sought by the industry. The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a utilization rate for the week ending Aug. 18 of 79.5 percent, up from 79.1 percent in the prior week, and up from 75.8 percent in the same week last year. 

Raw steel production for the Aug. 18 week totaled 1,864,000 net tons, the fifth week in a row that steel output topped 1.8 million tons. Steel production in the U.S. was up 0.5 percent from the previous week and up 5.5 percent from the same period last year. 

Adjusted year-to-date producton through Aug. 18 totaled 59,135,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 77.0 percent. That’s up 3.6 percent from 57,056,000 tons in the same period last year when the capability utilization was 74.6 percent.

Following is production by district for the week of Aug. 18: North East: 208,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 692,000 net tons; Midwest, 190,000 net tons; South, 693,000 net tons; and West, 81,000 net tons, for a total of 1,864,000.

Note, mill capability for third-quarter 2018 is approximately 30.8 million tons, compared to 30.6 million tons for the same period last year and 30.5 million tons for second-quarter 2018.

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.

Tim Triplett

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