Steel Products Prices North America
October 20, 2020
U.S. Mill Capacity Utilization Nears 70 Percent
Written by David Schollaert
Raw steel production by U.S. mills rose again by 2.2 percent to 1,535,000 net tons in the week ending Oct. 17, continuing an uptrend that began nearly five months ago. The mill operating rate hit 69.4 percent, up from 67.9 percent the week prior. Despite the repeated rise in capacity utilization, production was still down by 15.0 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Adjusted year-to-date production through Oct. 17 totaled 62,481,00 net tons, at an average utilization rate of 66.3 percent. That is down 19.4 percent from the same period last year, when the utilization rate was 80.1 percent, AISA said.
