Gains Continue for Weekly Raw Steel Production

U.S. raw steel production rose again, a trend that has continued for five weeks and counting. Weekly steel production by U.S. mills totaled 1,761,000 tons in the week ending March 16, pushing production up 0.3% compared with the week prior when production was 1,755,000 tons. The small increase may reflect some seasonality as construction and rebar consumption start to move up and domestic mills try to meet rising demand. The mill utilization rate last week averaged 77.7%, up from 77.4% the week prior and up 1.1% from the same period last year when production totaled 1,741,000 tons at the onset of COVID-19 restrictions.

Adjusted year-to-date production through March 13 was 17,873,000 tons, at an average utilization rate of 76.7%. That’s down 6.8% from the same period last year then the utilization rate was 79.6% and production was 19,176,000 net tons, AISI said.