US steel mill capability utilization edged up again last week, making two consecutive weeks above 70%, American Iron and Steel Institute data Monday showed.
In the week ended Saturday, US steel mills produced 1.694 million st of raw steel, up 1.2% from the 1.674 million made the week before. The industry's capability utilization increased to 71.4% from 70.6%.
The steel industry operated below 70% of its capability for almost all of September and all of October and November.
Last week's production was up 14.1% from the same week last year, when mills operated at 62.1%.
Midwest mills ramped up production by 4.4% week on week to 167,000 st, up from 160,000 st the week before. Western mills also boosted production by 7.4% to 73,000 st from 68,000 st. Northeast mills increased production by 2.5% to 209,000 st from 204,000 st. Southern mills also upped production by by 0.9% or 5,000 st week on week to 581,000 st.
The Great Lakes region was the only region to reduce production week on week. Great Lakes mills made 664,000 st of raw steel last week, down 0.3% or 2,000 st from the week before.
Year-to-date steel production has been down 0.8%. The average capability utilization this year has been 70.8%, up from 70.1% by this time last year.
The 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.
