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    October 13, 2020

    U.S. Capacity Utilization Nears 68 Percent

    Written by David Schollaert

    Raw steel production by U.S. mills rose another 1.2 percent in the week ending Oct. 10 to 1,502,000 net tons, the 16th increase in the last 18 weeks. The operating rate reached 67.9 percent last week, up from 66.6 percent the week prior. Even though production has experienced steady increases, mill output was still 16.8 percent below levels of the same week last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

    Adjusted year-to-date production through Oct. 10 totaled 60,946,00 net tons, at an average utilization rate of 66.2 percent. That is down 19.6 percent from the same period last year, when the utilization rate was 80.1 percent, AISA said.

    David Schollaert

    David Schollaert is deputy editor-in-chief for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. He can be contacted at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

    Read more from David Schollaert

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