U.S. Steel Mills Capacity Utilization Topped 82.3%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The weekly raw steel production statistics published by the American Iron and Steel institute (AISI) points to notable production increase during the week ended on May 4, 2019. The weekly production stood higher from the prior week as well as from the same period in the previous year.

According to AISI, the U.S. domestic raw steel production totaled 1.915 million net tons during the latest week for which production data was published. It represents 6.6% surge from production during corresponding week last year, which had totaled 1.796 million net tons. The capacity utilization rate during the week was 82.3%, significantly higher from 77.6% a year before. The current week production was up marginally by 1.1% from the prior week. It must be noted that the production had totaled only 1.895 million net tons during the week ended April 27, 2019.

The year-to-date steel production by U.S. domestic mills totaled 33.698 million net tons through May 4, 2019, up 6.6% from the 31.610 million net tons a year before. The capacity utilization rate also edged higher from 76.4% to 81.7% over the year.

The production for the second quarter of 2019 is forecast to decline marginally to 30.3 million tons, as compared with 30.5 million tons during the same quarter in 2018.

Region wise, the production in the Great Lakes totaled 720,000 net tons, accounting for nearly 38% of the total weekly production. The other primary regions along with their output are as follows: North East (207,000 tons), Midwest (192,000 tons), Southern (719,000 tons) and Western (77,000 tons).