US Steel Sector Utilization Increases

US steel production for the last week ended was 1.428 million net. Capacity utilization was 63.7%, up 2% from the previous week, according to weekly steel industry data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

Estimated production for the last week represents a 21.2% decline from the corresponding week a year earlier. For the week ended 5 September 2019, production was 1.813 million net tonnes at a capacity utilization rate of 78.0%. Production this week is comparable to 1.383 mn net tonnes at 61.7% capacity utilization in the previous week. According to AISI, production was up 3.3% from the previous week.

Adjusted production from the beginning of the year to September 5, 2020 was 53.269 million net tons, down 20.2% from the previous year, according to AISI. The level of utilization of production capacities during this period averaged 65.9%. Rough steel production totaled 66.730 million net tonnes with an average capacity utilization of 80.6% over the same period last year.

The southern region topped the production schedule with 558,000 net tonnes, followed by the Great Lakes region with 503,000 net tonnes. Production (in net tonnes) for other regions is as follows: Northeast (138,000), Midwest (157,000) and West (72,000).