US raw steel output declined 2.3 percent during the holiday week ended December 26, 2009, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
AISI reported that US raw steel production in the week ended December 26, 2009 totaled 1,445,000 nt, down 2.3 percent from the 1,479,000 nt produced in the previous week, though up 48.2 percent from the 975,000 nt produced during same week of last year.
In the week ended December 26, US steelmakers were producing at 60.6 percent capacity, said AISI. This is down from the prior week's 62.0 percent but significantly up from the corresponding week of last year's 40.9 percent.
Adjusted year-to-date raw steel production in the US through December 26, 2009 totaled 62,802,000 nt, which is down 37.0 percent from the same period of last year. YTD capacity utilization amongst US steelmakers as of December 26 was 51.2 percent, compared to 81.4 percent for the corresponding period of last year.