As reported this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), during the week ended October 18, 2008, raw steel production in the US decreased by 6.7 percent from the previous week to 1.744 million net tons (nt).
The previous week's numbers showed 1.869 million nt of raw steel produced by the US.
Steel production for the week ended October 18, 2008 was also down 17.5 percent from the 2.112 million net tons produced the same week of last year.
The Southern district produced the most raw steel for the week ended October 18, 2008 with 540,000 nt, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district with 428,000 nt.
Year-to-date net tonnage as of October 18, 2008 registered at 87.2 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 87.6 percent. This compares to YTD net tonnage of 86.2 million nt on October 18, 2007 with an average capability utilization rate of 86.4 percent.