According to data released this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), US raw steel
production is up 0.6 percent from last week. The previous week's tonnage totaled 2.053 million net tons (nt), while numbers for the week ending September 9, 2006 totaled 2.067 million nt.
Raw steel
production is also up when comparing the week ending September 9, 2006 with the same week of the previous year. Last year, for the week ending September 9, net tonnage registered at 1.998 million, 69,000 nt less than the same week of this year.
Year to date net tonnage as of September 9, 2006 totals 74.7 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 87.1 percent. This net tonnage figure is up 5.9 percent from the same period of the previous year when mills produced 70.53 million nt and operated at an 85.0 percent capability utilization rate.
The Southern district produced the most raw steel for the week ending September 9, 2006, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district, producing 633,000 nt and 524,000 nt respectively.