Steel Products Prices North America
Mill Utilization Averaging Nearly 81 Percent in 2019
Written by Tim Triplett
February 19, 2019
The U.S. steel industry has produced 12,737,000 tons of steel so far in 2019, an 8.4 percent increase from the same period last year. Mill utilization has averaged 80.7 percent this year, up substantially from the 75.7 percent in 2018, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.
For the week ending Feb. 16, the average capability utilization for U.S. steelmakers dipped slightly to 81.0 percent, with the mills producing 1,886,000 net tons of steel. Production decreased by 0.6 percent from the prior week but was up 3.8 percent from the same week the prior year.
Following is production by district for the Feb. 16 week: North East: 219,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 661,000 net tons; Midwest, 206,000 net tons; South, 726,000 net tons; and West, 74,000 net tons, for a total of 1,886,000 tons. Production for the week was up in the South and Midwest, but down in the North East, Great Lakes and West.
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: Capability for first-quarter 2019 is approximately 30.5 million tons compared to 30.0 million tons for the same period last year and 30.8 million tons for fourth-quarter 2018.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
Raw Materials Prices: Iron Ore, Coking Coal, Pig Iron, Scrap, Zinc
Raw materials prices are poised for a rapid decline as the dollar strengthens and the global economy slumps. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through March 18 of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 months/12 months changes on a percentage basis. This is likely our […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Puts HBI Construction on Hold
Cleveland-Cliffs has temporarily shut down construction activity at its hot-briquetted iron (HBI) site in Toledo, Ohio, due to the COVID-19 virus. All construction at the site will cease at the end of the business day on March 20 until further notice. Cleveland-Cliffs’ iron ore mining and steelmaking facilities will continue operations. The Toledo plant is […]
SMU Poll: Manufacturers Busy and Determined to Work
Today, Steel Market Update had conversations with manufacturing companies across the United States. We found businesses reporting strong demand, plants are still open, office workers tend to be working from home and factory workers are being trained on social distancing as well as personal/equipment hygiene. Most of those we contacted either on the phone or […]
CRU: Zinc’s Price in Freefall as Covid-19 Lockdowns Spiral
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor The LME is preparing to move from trading in the ring to electronic settlement pricing as the UK ramps up Covid-19 restrictions on all but essential activities and LME prices continue to take a hammering. While Chinese demand is gradually recovering from the Q1 shock of […]
Mid-March Update on Foreign Steel Imports
Updated February steel import license data was released this week, remaining in the 1.9 million net ton range for total steel imports, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Finished steel imports in February were at 1.5 million tons, down over January’s 1.6 million ton level and below the 2019 finished import average of 1.7 […]