Steel Products Prices North America
October 8, 2019
Steel Mill Utilization Stuck in the High 70s
Written by Tim Triplett
Raw steel production by U.S. mills has been stuck in the high 70 percent range for the past seven weeks. The last time the utilization rate was above the desired mark of 80 percent was the week ending Aug. 24. Production for the most recent week ending Oct. 5 totaled 1,804,000 net tons at a mill utilization rate of 78.0 percent, down 1.2 percent from the previous week and down 3.9 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Adjusted year-to-date production through Oct. 5 totaled 74,257,000 net tons for the year at an average mill utilization of 80.4 percent–still up 3.0 percent from 2018 when the year-to-date utilization rate was 77.5 percent.
