US raw steel production was relatively flat last week, as major swings in production output in the Great Lakes, Southern and Western regions canceled each other out, according to American Iron and Steel Institute data that was released Monday.
In the week that ended Saturday, US mills produced 1.675 million st of steel, up 0.4% from 1.668 million st in the prior week. The industry's capability utilization edged up to 71.6% from 71.3%.
Southern steel mills cut production 9.3% last week to 536,000 st from 591,000 st. Midwest mills also reduced production 1.6% to 185,000 st from 188,000 st.
Production at Great Lakes mills rose 7.2% to 670,000 st from 625,000 st, while output at Western mills jumped 30.8% to 85,000 st from 65,000 st.
Northeast mills produced 199,000 st of steel last week, unchanged with the week before.
Year-to-date steel production fell 3.4% from the same period a year ago. The average capability utilization in 2016 has been 70.3%, down from 72.1% in the year-ago period.
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.
