AISI: Raw steel production slips to 5-week low

Production last week was 1.5% higher than the year-to-date weekly average of 1,723,000 st.

Output was 1.0% greater than the same week a year ago when mills produced 1,742,000 st. Recall that production reached a multi-year high of 1,782,000 st in late August.

Last week’s mill capability utilization rate eased to 78.8%, down from 79.8% the previous week and from late August’s peak of 80.2%. At this time last year, the utilization rate was 74.4%.

Year-to-date production is up to 62,859,000 st, with a mill capability utilization rate of 76.8%. This is 1.7% below this time last year when mills had produced 63,943,000 st YTD with an average utilization rate of 76.9%.

Weekly production by region is shown below, with the week-over-week changes noted in parentheses:

• Northeast – 127,000 st (down 1,000 st)
• Great Lakes – 597,000 st (up 1,000 st)
• Midwest – 220,000 st (up 5,000 st)
• South – 747,000 st (down 20,000 st)
• West – 58,000 st (down 8,000 st)

Editor’s note: The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated and should be used primarily to assess production trends. AISI’s monthly “AIS 7” report is available by subscription and provides a more detailed summary of domestic steel production.