Domestic Mill Utilization Back to 80%

Raw steel production by U.S. mills recovered last week, expanding for just the second time in seven weeks. Domestic mills produced a total of 1,762,000 net tons in the week ending March 5, while mill capacity utilization edged back up to 80.0%, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported.

U.S. output was up 0.4% compared to the prior week and just 0.1% higher than the same year-ago period when production was 1,760,000 net tons. Mill capacity utilization last week saw a 0.3 percentage point increase from the prior week and was 2.3 percentage points above the same period one year ago.