The U.S. steel industry’s crude steel production for the week ending Sept. 7 fell 1.7% compared with production for the same week in 2018, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Steel production for the week ending Sept. 7 totaled an estimated 1.84 million net tons at a capacity utilization rate of 78.8%. The production total marked a decline compared with the 1.87 million net tons produced during the same week of 2018 at a capacity utilization rate of 79.6%.
Meanwhile, production for the week ending Sept. 7, 2019, was down 0.8% from the previous week, when production reached 1.85 million net tons at a capacity utilization rate of 79.5%.
Production for the year to date (i.e., through Sept. 7, 2019) was 67.15 million net tons at a capacity utilization rate of 80.8%. The year-to-date production total marks a 4.0% increase from production during the same period in 2018, which checked in at 64.59 million net tons (at a capacity utilization rate of 77.5%).
Broken down by region, production totals for the week ending Sept. 7, 2019, checked in at:
- Northeast: 214,000 tons
- Great Lakes: 686,000 tons
- Midwest: 190,000 tons
- Southern: 672,000 tons
- Western: 73,000 tons
Last week, citing the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, AISI reported August steel import permit applications totaled 2.13 million net tons, down 40.8% from the 3.61 million permit tons recorded in July.
For the first eight months of 2019, total and finished steel imports were 20.80 million net tons and 15.30 million net tons, which marked declines of 13.0% and 16.0%, respectively, compared with the first eight months of 2018.
According to the SIMA data, finished steel import market share in August reached an estimated 19%, just under the 20% market share recorded during the year to date.
Source: MetalMiner
