Steel Products Prices North America

Small Step Back for Weekly Steel Production

Written by David Schollaert

January 26, 2021

Weekly raw steel output by U.S. mills, which had increased for the prior three weeks, took a small step back in the week ending Jan. 23 with total production of 1,717,000 net tons, down 1.6 percent from the week before. The mill utilization rate was 75.7 percent, down from 76.7 percent week on week and down 9.9 percent compared to the same week in 2020 when the utilization then was 82.4 percent. The lower output may be attributed to the observance of the MLK federal holiday at the beginning of the week, as all regions saw lower utilization rates.

Adjusted year-to-date production through Jan. 23 was 5,635,000 net tons, at an average utilization rate of 75.8 percent. That’s down 9.7 percent from the same period last year then the utilization rate was 82.4 percent and production was 6,243,000 net tons, AISI said.

Following is production by district for the Jan. 23 week: North East, 153,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 614,000 net tons; Midwest, 189,000 net tons; South, 692,000 net tons; and West, 69,000 net tons for a total of 1,717,000. All regions were down week on week.

Note: The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided from 50% 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 production report “AIS 7”, published monthly and available by subscription, provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing 75% of U.S. production capacity. Capability for the first quarter of 2021 is approximately 29.1 million tons compared to 30.1 million tons for the same period last year and 29.1 million tons for the fourth quarter of 2020.

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.

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