Steel Products Prices North America
January 2, 2020
Mills Keep Capacity Utilization Over 80 Percent for the Year
Written by Tim Triplett
Domestic steelmakers finished 2019 strong and managed to keep the average mill capability utilization above the desired 80 percent rate for the year. Mill utilization increased to 81.1 percent in the week ending Dec. 28, the last full week of the year. Raw steel production totaled 1,876,000 net tons, up 0.5 percent from the previous week and up 0.8 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Adjusted year-to-date production through Dec. 28 totaled 96,326,000 net tons at an average mill utilization of 80.2 percent–up 1.8 percent from 2018 when the year-to-date utilization rate was 78.2 percent.
