Steel Products Prices North America

U.S. Raw Steel Production in October

Written by Brett Linton

December 14, 2019

U.S. raw steel production in October rose 3.5 percent to 7,991,393 net tons, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. October production is slightly below the 2019 average of 8,088,957 tons and down 4.1 percent compared to the same month last year.

Broken down by production method, 5,657,855 tons (70.8 percent) were produced by electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 2,333,538 tons (29.2 percent) were produced by blast furnaces. While the October EAF production level is not record breaking, the percentage of steel produced by EAFs in relation to total monthly production is at the highest level seen in our ~10-year limited history, surpassing the October 2017 high of 70.7 percent.

October production was 271,156 tons higher than September, but 339,112 tons lower than the same month last year. 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 October averaged 78.0 percent, up from 77.4 percent in September, but down from 80.2 percent one year ago. The yearly capacity utilization rate has been adjusted down to 80.1 percent, still up from 77.8 percent compared to the same 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

Brett Linton is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update, where he began his career. Linton has been in the steel industry since 2010. He has held roles as a category manager and strategic insights director at Reibus before returning to SMU in 2024. He is a graduate of The University of North Georgia with a degree in Finance and Accounting. Brett can be reached at brett@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-314-0179.

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