Steel Products Prices North America

U.S. Capacity Utilization Nears 68 Percent
Written by David Schollaert
October 13, 2020
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.
Following is production by district for the Oct. 10 week: North East: 147,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 538,000 net tons; Midwest, 154,000 net tons; South, 592,000 net tons; and West, 71,000 net tons for a total of 1,502,000 and a net increase of 18,000 tons. Production was up across all regions.
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 fourth-quarter 2020 is approximately 29.1 million tons, compared to 30.4 million tons for the same period last year and 29.4 million tons for the second quarter of 2020.

David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Steel Products Prices North America

CRU: Q3 will be the lowest point in current sheet price cycle
CRU Principal Analyst Shankhadeep Mukherjee expects a restocking cycle for steel sheet products in most parts of the world due to either low inventories or seasonally stronger demand.

CRU: US rebar and wire rod prices rise alongside S232 increase
CRU Senior Steel Analyst Alexandra Anderson discusses current market and pricing dynamics for long steel products in the US.

SMU Price Ranges: Sheet and plate steady ahead of Independence Day
Sheet and plate prices were little changed in the shortened week ahead of Independence Day, according to SMU’s latest check of the market.

Nucor maintains plate prices, opens August order book
Nucor aims to keep plate prices flat again with the opening of its August order book.

Nucor CSP remains level at $900/ton
Nucor maintained its weekly list price for hot-rolled (HR) coil this week, following two consecutive increases.