Weekly domestic raw steel production increased 1.9% from 1.804 million tons (mt) last week to 1.839 mt for the week ending February 8, 2014, reaching the highest amount since November 23, 2013.  Production is 0.9% above the year-ago level of 1.822 mt.

Capacity utilization also increased and reached the highest rate since November 23, 2013, rising from 75.3% last week to 76.8% this week.  The rate is above the year-ago level of 76.1%.

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