Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Raw Steel Production Edges Down 0.3%

Written by David Schollaert

April 13, 2021

Weekly raw steel production by U.S. mills totaled 1,761,000 net tons in the week ending April 10, down 0.3% compared with the week before when production was 1,766,000 net tons. The mill utilization rate last week averaged 77.6%, down from 77.9% the week prior, but up 42.0% from the same period last year when production was 1,240,000 net tons and utilization was 55.4%.

Year-ago output was severely impacted by widespread shutdowns and mitigation efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19. Thus, contrasting production with year-ago levels can be misleading. If compared with the same period in 2019, however, production is down 8.7% from when it totaled 1,915,000 net tons. Mill utilization was 82.3% on April 13, 2019.

Adjusted year-to-date production through April 10 was 24,933,000 net tons, at an average utilization rate of 77.0%. That’s up 3.3% from the same period last year when the utilization rate was 73.7% and production was 25,425,000 net tons, AISI said.

Following is production by district for the April 10 week: North East, 154,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 623,000 net tons; Midwest, 175,000 net tons; South, 740,000 net tons; and West, 69,000 net tons, for a total of 1,761,000 net tons. Production was down by 5,000 net tons compared to the week prior. Great Lakes was the sole district to post increased output 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. AISI’s monthly production report 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.

WeeklyRawSteelProd Wk15.2

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

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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