U.S. steel output up by 1.6 percent this year

30th April 2018

Great Lakes steel production fell to 667,000 tons last week, a 2.62 percent decrease as compared to the previous week.

Steel mills in the Great Lakes region made 685,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced around the southern shore of Lake Michigan in Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana.

Overall, domestic steel mills made 1.788 million tons of metal last week, a slight increase of 4,000 tons as compared to the previous week.

U.S. steel mills have run at a capacity utilization rate of 75.6 percent so far this year, up from 74.4 percent at the same point in 2017.

Domestic steelmakers used about 76.3 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended April 21, up from 76.1 percent the previous week and up significantly from 73.8 percent at the same time a year ago, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Some analysts say steelmaking capacity utilization of about 90 percent is considered financially healthy for the industry, at least for the larger integrated mills like those around Lake Michigan because of their high fixed costs.

U.S. national steel output dipped by 0.22 percent last week, but is up 1.6 percent so far this year, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Production in the Southern district, a wide geographic swath that includes many mini mills, rose to 666,000 tons last week, up from 653,000 tons the previous week. Steel output in the greater Midwest increased to 165,000 tons last week, up from 159,000 tons the previous week.

Source: NWI