Steel Products Prices North America

Raw Steel Production Dips During Holiday Week

Written by David Schollaert

December 22, 2020

Weekly raw steel production by U.S. mills totaled 1,600,000 net tons in the week ending Dec. 26, down 1.2 percent from the prior week, most likely due to the holiday lull. The mill utilization rate was 72.3 percent, down from 73.2 percent the week before and 78.5 percent in the same week last year. 

Adjusted year-to-date production through Dec. 26 totaled 78,739,000 net tons, at an average utilization rate of 67.7 percent. With one week left in 2020, that’s down 17.7 percent from the same period last year, when the utilization rate was 79.8 percent, AISI said.

Following is production by district for the Dec. 26 week: North East, 138,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 576,000 net tons; Midwest, 170,000 net tons; South, 646,000 net tons; and West, 70,000 net tons for a total of 1,600,000. Production declined in all regions by a net total week over week of 19,000 tons.

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

David Schollaert is a senior analyst 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. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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