US raw steel production picked up 1.6% week on week as steelmaking in the Great Lakes bounced up 4.4%, American Iron and Steel Institute data released Tuesday showed.
In the week ended March 1, US mills produced 1.861 million st of raw steel, up 1.6% from the prior week's 1.831 million st. The industry's capability utilization rose to 77.4% from 76.3%.
Last week's steel output is still down 0.7% from the same week last year, when mills produced 1.875 million st of raw steel operating at 78.3%. Steel mill output in 2014 has totaled 15.71 million st, down 1% from 15.87 million st. The average utilization rate in 2014 has been 76.5%, down from 77.3% in the same period last year.
The Great Lakes had the largest week-on-week production gain. The region's steel output reached 668,000 st last week, up 4.4% from 640,000 st. Western steel mills also yielded 2.4% more steel last week, reaching 86,000 st over the prior week's 84,000 st. Midwest steel mills ramped up steel production by 2.1% to 246,000 st from 241,000 st in the previous week.
Steel mills in the Northeast increased steel output 0.9% to 221,000 st last week, up from 219,000 st.
The Southern region was the only one to cutback steelmaking, and week-on-week output dropped 1.1% to 640,000 st from 647,000 st.
AISI determines its weekly raw steel production data based on weekly data from 50% of the domestic industry and estimates the rest using monthly production data.
