Steel Products Prices North America

Mills Start New Year Above 80% Capacity

Written by David Schollaert

January 3, 2022

Steel production by domestic mills saw a small dip over the holidays, but capacity utilization remains above a healthy 80% to start the New Year.

Raw steel output totaled 1,785,000 net tons in the week ending Jan. 1, 2022, up 9.5% from the same period last year but down 0.9% from the prior week when production was 1,802,000 tons, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Mill capacity utilization last week averaged 80.9%, down 0.7% from the prior week but up 7.5% from an average of 73.4% utilization in the week ending Jan. 1, 2021.

Broken down by districts, here’s production for the week ending Jan. 1, 2022: Northeast: 183,000 tons; Great Lakes: 629,000 tons; Midwest: 197,000 tons; Southern: 707,000 tons; and Western: 69,000 tons, for a total of 1,785,000.

WeeklyRawSteelProd Wk1

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

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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