Steel Products Prices North America
August 11, 2020
Steel Mill Utilization Rate Back Over 60 Percent
Written by Tim Triplett
Capacity utilization by the domestic mills has topped 60 percent once again as the economy and steel demand continue their slow, painful recovery from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Raw steel production by U.S. mills totaled 1,354,000 net tons in the week ending Aug. 8, with the mills hitting an average utilization rate of 60.4 percent, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. That’s an 18.2 percent improvement (9.3 percentage points) from the trough in the week ending May 2 when the mills only produced 1,144,000 tons at a rate of 51.1 percent.
Production in the Aug. 8 week was up 2.0 percent from the prior week when the capability utilization rate was 59.3 percent. That’s still 26.5 percent behind production in the same week last year, AISI reported.
