Steel Products Prices North America

Mill Capacity Utilization Back Over 80 Percent

October 29, 2019

Raw steel output by U.S. mills saw another small increase in the week ending Oct. 26 taking the average mill utilization rate back up over 80 percent of capacity. Production totaled 1,866,000 net tons at a utilization rate of 80.7 percent, up 1.4 percent from the previous week but down 0.6 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Adjusted year-to-date production through Oct. 26 totaled 79,785,000 net tons for the year at an average mill utilization of 80.3 percent–up 2.7 percent from 2018 when the year-to-date utilization rate was 77.5 percent.

Following is production by district for the Oct. 26 week: North East: 212,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 702,000 net tons; Midwest, 174,000 net tons; South, 702,000 net tons; and West, 76,000 net tons, for a total of 1,866,000 tons. Production for the week increased in every region except the Great Lakes.

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.