Steel Products Prices North America
Mills Increase Utilization to 81.5 Percent of Capacity
Written by Tim Triplett
August 6, 2019
Steel mill capacity utilization has been inching upward for the past month and registered 81.5 percent in the week ending Aug. 3 as the domestic mills benefit from higher steel prices. The last time the mills operated at this rate was mid-May.
Raw steel production for the week ending Aug. 3 totaled 1,897,000 net tons, an increase of 0.7 percent from the previous week when the U.S. mill utilization rate averaged 80.9 percent. Production was up by 2.7 percent compared with the same week last year when capacity utilization averaged 78.8 percent, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Domestic steelmakers have produced 57,945,000 tons for the year to date, a 4.8 percent increase compared with the same period in 2018. Mill utilization has averaged 81.1 percent so far this year, up from 77.0 percent last year.
Following is production by district for the Aug. 3 week: North East: 213,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 699,000 net tons; Midwest, 209,000 net tons; South, 702,000 net tons; and West, 74,000 net tons, for a total of 1,897,000 tons. Production for the week decreased in the Northeast and Great Lakes, but increased in the Midwest, South and West regions.
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 third-quarter 2019 is approximately 30.6 million tons compared to 30.8 million tons for the same period last year and 30.3 million tons for second-quarter 2019.
Tim Triplett
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