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

Nucor maintains plate prices, opens August order book
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat again with the opening of its August order book.

Nucor CSP remains level at $900/ton
Nucor maintained its weekly list price for hot-rolled (HR) coil this week, following two consecutive increases.

Cliffs raises prices, seeks $950/ton for July spot HR
Cleveland-Cliffs plans to increase prices for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $950 per short ton (st) with the opening of its July spot order book. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the price hike was effective immediately in a letter to customers dated Monday.

HRC vs. prime scrap spread widens in June
The price spread between HRC and prime scrap widened in June.

SMU price ranges: Steel prices rise in response to tariffs
Steel prices climbed for a second straight week across all five sheet and plate products tracked by SMU.