Steel Products Prices North America
April 20, 2021
Weekly Raw Steel Production Seesaw Continues
Written by David Schollaert
Weekly raw steel production by U.S. mills, which totaled 1,770,000 net tons in the week ending April 17, has seen small up-and-down fluctuations over the past five weeks. Average mill utilization last week grew to 78.0%, up from 77.6% the week prior, but a big jump from the same period last year when production was just 1,240,000 net tons and mill utilization was historically low at 55.4%.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, which stalled the economy and steel production, year-ago comparisons are skewed and impractical. When compared with the more normal period in 2019, however, production is presently down 7.0%, as output totaled 1,903,000 net tons and mill utilization was 81.8% on April 20, 2019.
