Weekly domestic raw steel production increased for the second consecutive week, rising 0.6% to 1.959 million tons (mt) for the week ending March 10, 2012, a post-recession high and 6.0% higher than the year-ago level.  The lowest production since the recession began was 0.8 mt on December 27, 2008.

The capacity utilization rate also hit a post-recession high, coming in at 79.3% compared to 78.8% last week and 75.5% a year ago. The lowest capacity utilization rate since the recession began was 33.5% on December 27, 2008.

Source: AISI and Steel Market Intelligence