Pittsburgh — The US raw steel weekly capability utilization rate nearly reached the 80% mark once again last week, climbing to 79.8%, according to data released Tuesday by the American Iron and Steel Institute.
US mills produced 1.87 million st of steel during the week that ended Saturday, up 0.6% from the previous week. The 79.8% utilization level is the highest seen since utilization reached that mark in the week that ended July 26, 2014.
Last week's production was up 6.3% from the same week a year ago when capacity utilization was 75.4% and production totaled 1.76 million st.
Adjusted year-to-date production was calculated by the AISI to be 63 million st at a capacity utilization rate of 77.3%. That is up 4% from the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 74.6% for 60.6 million st of production.
By district, last week's production totaled 215,000 st in the Northeast; 697,000 st in the Great Lakes region; 196,000 st in the Midwest; 680,000 st in the South, and 82,000 st in the West.
The weekly raw steel production volume provided by the AISI is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production data provided by 50% of the domestic producers combined with monthly production data for the remainder.
