AISI : Weekly Raw Steel Production – August 10, 2013

n the week ending August 10, 2013, domestic raw steel production was 1,862,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 77.7 percent. Production was 1,897,000 tons in the week ending August 10, 2012, while the capability utilization then was 76.3 percent. The current week production represents a 1.8 percent decrease from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending August 10, 2013 is down 1.4 percent from the previous week ending August 3, 2013 when production was 1,888,000 tons and the rate of capability utilization was 78.8 percent.

Adjusted year-to-date production through August 10, 2013 was 59,114,000 tons, at a capability utilization rate of 77.1 percent. That is a 4.6 percent decrease from the 61,947,000 tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 77.8 percent.

Broken down by districts, here’s production for the week ending August 10, 2013 in thousands of net tons: North East: 208; Great Lakes: 654; Midwest: 242; Southern: 669 and Western: 89.

The Raw Steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided from 50% of the domestic producers combined with monthly production data for the remainder. Therefore, this report should be used primarily to assess production trends. The AISI production report “AIS 7,” published monthly and available by subscription, provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing over three quarters of U.S. production capacity.

Note: Capability for the First Quarter 2013 is approximately 30.8 million tons versus 32.3 million tons for the same period last year and 32.7 million tons for the Fourth Quarter of 2012. Production capability for 2013 reflects the closure of several steelmaking facilities in 2012, new facilities coming on-line and improvements made to existingfacilities to increase their capability. When comparing capability utilization rates between 2013 and 2012, the user of this data should take into account the change to capability for 2013 in analyzing the data.