Small Increase for Weekly Raw Steel Production

Last week’s production total represents a 12.8% increase from year-ago levels when mills were still recovering from COVID disruptions. Production by U.S. mills then totaled 1,612,000 net tons and utilization was 72.9%.

Adjusted year-to-date production through Dec. 11 totaled 89,899,000 net tons, at an average utilization rate of 81.6%. That’s up 19.4% from the same period last year when the utilization rate was 68.1% and production was 75,281,000 net tons, AISI said.

Production rose in all but one region last week; the sole decrease came from the South district. The largest increase in both tons and percentage was from the North East district at 5,000 tons or 3.0% week on week. Below is production by region for the week ending Dec. 11: Northeast, 169,000 tons; Great Lakes, 621,000 tons; Midwest, 206,000 tons; South, 744,000 tons; and West, 78,000 tons – for a total of 1,818,000 net tons, up 11,000 net tons from the prior week.

Note: The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided by approximately 50% of the domestic production capacity combined with the most recent 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. Given the large number of changes to steelmaking capability in the current rapidly evolving market environment, AISI is undertaking a comprehensive review of its raw steel production and capability utilization statistics to ensure that they accurately reflect market conditions. Any updates to capability will be phased in over several weeks. Capability for the fourth quarter 2021 is approximately 29.0 million tons.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com