Steel Mills
Raw steel output falls to close 2023, annual production slightly higher
Written by Laura Miller
January 2, 2024
Raw steel production in the US fell to a 38-week low to close out the last week of 2023.
US mills produced an estimated 1,680,000 net tons of raw steel in the week ending Dec. 30, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The mill capability utilization rate was 73.1% for the week.
Output was down 0.8% from the previous week when mills operated at 73.7% of capability. However, output was 6.6% higher compared to the same week last year when mills produced 1,576,000 tons.
Production by region is shown below, with the week-over-week changes shown in parentheses:
- Northeast – 125,000 tons (down 5,000 tons)
- Great Lakes – 545,000 tons (down 6,000 tons)
- Midwest – 183,000 tons (down 2,000 tons)
- South – 762,000 tons (up 2,000 tons)
- West – 65,000 tons (down 2,000 tons)
2023 production
Adjusted raw steel output for the 2023 calendar year through Dec. 30 totaled 88,727,000 tons, AISI said. Annual production was 0.2% higher than the 88,528,000 tons produced during the same period of 2022.
For the year, the mill capability utilization rate was 75.4% compared to 77.5% in 2022.
Output in the last week of 2023 was 5.3% higher than the 1,595,000 tons produced in the first week of the year. Figure 1 shows production trending higher in the first half of the year and then trending slightly lower in the latter portion of the year.
Laura Miller
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