US steel production up 5.7% over the week

Weekly production statistics released by the American Institute of Iron and Steel (AISI) indicate significant growth in U.S. steel production during the week ending March 16, 2019.

Weekly production was 1,930 million tonnes, up 5.7% from the corresponding week in 2018. Capacity utilization at US steel mills also rose from 78.3% to 82.9% over the previous year.

Meanwhile, a comparison from the previous week shows that US steel production for the week ending March 16, 2019 was marginally lower. Production for the prior week ended March 9, 2019 was 1.941 million tonnes. Utilization of opportunities also declined from 83.4% in the previous week.

Production and capacity utilization to date this year has improved significantly over the previous year. Production through March 16, 2019 was 20.310 million tonnes, up 6.7% from 19.035 million tonnes in the same period last year. According to AISI, the annual capacity utilization rate also rose markedly from 76.6% to 81.4%.

The Great Lakes region topped production with 729,000 net tonnes, followed by the southern region with 711,000 net tonnes. Production in other regions in tonnes is as follows: Northeast (226,000), Midwest (205,000) and West (59,000).

Based on current data, the potential for the first quarter of 2019 is estimated at around 30.5 million tonnes, slightly up from 30.0 million tonnes in the same period in 2018.