Steel Products Prices North America
December 30, 2014
Weekly Raw Steel Production Slips
Written by Brett Linton
For the week ending December 27, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,746,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 5.5 percent decrease over the previous week and a 2.3 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 72.6 percent, down from 76.8 percent last week and down from 74.6 percent last year.
Estimated total raw steel produced for 2014 YTD is reported to be 95,474,000 tons, up 0.7 percent from the 94,809,000 tons produced during the same period in 2013. The average capacity utilization rate for 2014 YTD is estimated to be 77.0 percent, up from 76.8 percent for 2013 YTD. Note that there has been a change in production capability for 2014; comparisons between 2013 and 2014 capacity utilization rates are against different production levels, so the total tonnage figures are best suited for yearly comparisons.
