Weekly domestic raw steel production rose 1.2% from 1.881 million tons (mt) last week to 1.904 mt for the week ending July 20, 2013, a 13-month high and some 3.7% above the year-ago level of 1.837 mt.

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.

Capacity utilization rose from 78.5% last week to a 14-month high of 79.5%, which is above the year-ago level of 74.3%.

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.

Source: AISI and Steel Market Intelligence