U.S. Raw Steel Output Edged Higher

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The U.S. weekly raw steel output recorded modest increase during the week ended August 17, 2019, upon comparison with the same week a year before. This is in accordance with the latest weekly domestic production statistics released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The production for the week was marginally lower when compared with the prior week.

The U.S. domestic raw steel production in the week ended August 17, 2019 totaled 1.857 million net tons (NT). The domestic mill capability utilization rate stood at 79.8%. It must be noted that the production had totaled only 1.861 million NT at a lower capacity utilization rate of 79.4% during the week ending August 17, 2018. Meantime, the weekly crude steel production registered marginal decline by 0.5% week-on-week. The production was 1.867 million NT during the week ended August 10, 2019.

The cumulative year-to-date raw steel production by the country totaled 61.669 million NT through the week ended August 17, 2019. This is higher by 4.5% from the production which totaled 59.001 million NT during the same period in 2018. The capability utilization rate too recorded notable jump from 77.3% to 81.0% over the year.

Southern region emerged as the leading producer, with an output of 702,000 net tons during the week ended August 17, 2019. The region accounted for nearly 38% of the total U.S. raw steel output during the week. The production by other regions (in net tons) is as follows: North East-205,000, Midwest-190,000, Great Lakes-686,000 and Western-74,000.