Steel Products Prices North America

Weekly Steel Mill Utilization at 82.9 Percent

March 19, 2019

Production at U.S. steel mills eased slightly in the week ending March 16, maintaining an average capability utilization rate of 82.9 percent, down from the 10-year high of 83.4 percent reported in the prior week. Domestic raw steel production for the week totaled 1,930,000 net tons, down 0.6 percent from the prior week but up 5.7 percent from the same period last year when the mills operated at 78.3 percent of capacity, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.

The U.S. steel industry has produced 20,310,000 tons of steel so far in 2019, a 6.7 percent increase from the same period last year. Mill utilization has averaged 81.4 percent this year, up nearly 5 percentage points from the 76.6 percent in 2018.

Following is production by district for the March 16 week: North East: 226,000 net tons; Great Lakes, 729,000 net tons; Midwest, 205,000 net tons; South, 711,000 net tons; and West, 59,000 net tons, for a total of 1,930,000 tons. Production for the week increased in the South and Great Lakes regions, but decreased in the Northeast, Midwest and West.

The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage from 50 percent of the domestic producers combined with monthly production data for the remainder. Therefore, this report should be used primarily to assess production trends. The AISI monthly production report provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing 75 percent of U.S. production capacity.

Note: Capability for first-quarter 2019 is approximately 30.5 million tons compared to 30.0 million tons for the same period last year and 30.8 million tons for fourth-quarter 2018.