Weekly US steel mill capability utilization ticks up to 59.3%

US raw steel capability utilization continued to increase last week, rising to 59.3% from 58.9% the previous week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute on August 3.

Production increased by 0.6% to 1.328 million st during the week ending August 1, up from 1.320 million st the previous week, according to the data.

Last week’s production was down 28.1% compared with the same week a year earlier, when capability utilization was at 79.3% and production totaled 1.846 million st.

The AISI calculated adjusted year-to-date production at 46.1 million st, with a capacity utilization rate of 66.2%. The total is 19.9% lower than that of the same period last year, when the utilization rate was 80.9% for 57.6 million st of output.

While the Great Lakes region saw a 1.9% decrease in production and the Southern district saw a 1.7% decrease compared to the previous week, the remaining regions saw week-on-week increases for the week ended August 1.

Last week’s production totaled 134,000 st in the Northeast; 462,000 st in the Great Lakes region; 145,000 st in the Midwest; 515,000 st in the Southern district and 72,000 st in the Western region, according to the data.

The weekly raw steel production volume AISI provides is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production data provided by 50% of domestic producers combined with monthly production data for the remainder.

— Grace Parker