Steel Products Prices North America
May 1, 2018
U.S Raw Steel Production Shows Only Small Gain
Written by Tim Triplett
While some mills claim capacity utilization above 90 percent, the industry overall averaged less than 76 percent in the first four months of the year, according to the weekly raw steel production data reported by the American Iron and Steel Institute. The peak capacity utilization was 78.7 percent in the first week of March. Domestic steelmakers had hoped that trade action by President Trump would lift the industry above the 80 percent level and improve profitability. Weekly steel production has ranged from a low of 1.69 milllion tons to a high of 1.83 million tons in 2018.
Steel production for the week ending April 28 totaled 1,754,000 net tons, a 1.9 percent increase from the same period last year, but down 1.9 percent from the previous week. The mill capability utilization rate for the April 28 week averaged 74.8 percent, down from 76.3 percent the prior week but up from 73.8 percent the prior year, reports AISI.
