Weekly domestic raw steel production rose 0.9% from 1.812 million tons (mt) last week, the lowest amount since March 23, 2013, to 1.829 mt for the week ending December 7, 2013.  Production is now some 1.5% above the year-ago level of 1.802 mt.

Capacity utilization also rose from 75.6% last week, also an eight-month low, to 76.3% this week, but is above the year-ago level of 72.9%.

The lowest production since the recession began was 800,000 tons for the week of December 27, 2008, while the highest was 2.005 mt for the week of May 12, 2012. The lowest capacity utilization rate since the recession began was 33.5% for the week of December 27, 2008; the highest was 81.1% on May 12, 2012.

We would caution readers that only half of the AISI reporting companies release their weekly production in “real time” so the other half of this data is estimated using the last month’s reported production & operating rate. What this means is that when production is changing, the weekly data is actually understating the change.

Source: AISI and Steel Market Intelligence