Steel Products Prices North America
March 31, 2020
Weekly Steel Production Takes a Nosedive
Written by Tim Triplett
Domestic raw steel production plunged by nearly 10 percent in the week ending March 28 as the coronavirus took a toll on the economy and steel demand, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. Steelmakers have announced a series of furnace idlings in the past few weeks that took an estimated 5 million tons of production out of the market. The utilization rates reported this week by AISI do not take that change in mill capability into account (and won’t unless the shutdowns become permanent).
Production for the week ending March 28 totaled 1,670,000 net tons for a utilization rate of 71.6 percent. That’s down 9.8 percent from the prior week, and down 12.7 percent compared with the same period last year. The mills had managed to keep their utilization rate above the desired 80 percent level for most of the year until measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 crippled the economy.
