Steel Products Prices North America
Weekly Steel Production Up, But Still Down 20 Percent for the Year
Written by Tim Triplett
August 4, 2020
Steel production by U.S. mills has been creeping steadily upward for the past eight weeks as the economy and steel demand slowly recover from the effects of the coronavirus. Production for the first seven months of the year remains nearly 20 percent below the same period in 2019, however.
Adjusted year-to-date production through Aug. 1 totaled 46,102,000 net tons at an average utilization rate of 66.2 percent. That’s down 19.9 percent from the same period last year when the utilization rate was 80.9 percent, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.
In the week ending Aug. 1, domestic steelmakers increased raw steel production to a total of 1,328,000 net tons with the mills operating at an average utilization rate of 59.3 percent. Production increased by 0.6 percent from the prior week when the utilization rate was 58.9 percent. The current week’s production still represents a 28.1 percent decrease from the same period last year.
Following is production by district for the Aug. 1 week: North East: 134,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 462,000 net tons; Midwest, 145,000 net tons; South, 515,000 net tons; and West, 72,000 net tons, for a total of 1,328,000 tons and a net increase of 8,000 tons. Production increased in the North East, Midwest and West, offset by decreases in the Great Lakes and South.
Note: 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. Capability for third-quarter 2020 is approximately 29.4 million tons, compared to 30.6 million tons for the same period last year and 29.1 million tons for the second quarter of 2020.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
CRU: Longs pricing trends diverge in North, South America
Most longs prices in the US were unchanged this month, except for rebar, which declined by $1.50/cwt ($30/short ton) m/m. While end-use demand is stable, inventories are well-stocked, keeping purchases limited. Domestic availability is sufficient to meet current demand, hindering the appetite for imported material. Meanwhile, prices for scrap remained under pressure in June, with […]
Nucor cuts plate prices by $125/ton, cites ongoing competition
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its August order book.
Nucor cuts HR price for fourth straight week
Nucor lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil by another $10 per short ton (st) for the first week of July. The steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday that its CSP base price for the week will be $670/st for all of its sheet mills with the exception of California Steel Industries (CSI).
Cliffs sets $720/ton HR price with opening of August books
Cleveland-Cliffs on Tuesday announced its monthly hot-rolled (HR) coil price of $720 per short ton (st) with the official opening of its August order book. The rate is down from last month’s price of $800/st.
CRU: Demand weakness continues to weigh on global sheet markets
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]