Steel Products Prices North America

May Raw Steel Production Strong at 8.3 Million Tons
Written by Brett Linton
July 18, 2019
Total U.S. raw steel production in the month of May rose 2.7 percent to 8,325,489 net tons, reports the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. May production was at one of the higher levels in recent history, only surpassed by March 2019 and October 2018. Prior to those three months, the last time production topped that was in August 2014 at 8,546,303 tons.
Broken down by production method, 5,643,477 tons (67.8 percent) were produced by electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 2,682,012 tons (32.2 percent) were produced by blast furnaces.
May production was 216,248 tons or 2.7 percent higher than April, and 319,400 tons or 4.0 percent higher than the same month one year ago. AISI’s monthly estimates are different than the weekly estimates SMU reports each Tuesday; the monthly estimates are based on over 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting versus only 50 percent reporting for the weekly estimates.
The mill capacity utilization rate for May averaged 80.8 percent, down from 81.3 percent in April, but up from 77.1 percent one year ago. The yearly capacity utilization rate has been adjusted down to 81.4 percent, up from 76.6 percent compared to the same five-month period last year.
The chart below shows total monthly steel production (blue) broken down by electric arc furnace production (green) and blast furnace production (red).
SMU Note: Interactive versions of the raw steel production graphics above can be seen in the Analysis section of our website here. If you need assistance logging into or navigating the website, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.

Brett Linton
Read more from Brett LintonLatest in Steel Products Prices North America

SMU price ranges: Flat-rolled balloon continues to leak
Sheet and plate prices were flat or lower again this week on continued concerns about demand and higher production rates among US mills.

HRC vs. busheling spread narrows in August
The price spread between prime scrap and hot-rolled coil (HRC) narrowed in August, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

SMU Price Ranges: Market drifts lower still
All five of SMU's steel sheet and plate price indices declined this week, falling to lows last seen in February.

Discontentment brews in plate market with flat, status-quo pricing
Sources in the carbon and alloy steel plate market said they are less discouraged by market uncertainty resulting from tariffs or foreign relations, but are instead, eager to see disruption to the flat pricing environment.

Nucor lowers HR coil spot price by $15/ton
Nucor has implemented a double-digit price decrease on spot hot-rolled (HR) coil for the second consecutive week.