US raw steel output reversed its two-week up-trend last week, decreasing by 1.1 percent, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Monday.
AISI reported that US raw steel production in the week ended November 21, 2009 totaled 1,540,000 nt, down 1.1 percent from the previous week, and down 27.4 percent from the same week of last year.
In the week ended November 21, US steelmakers were producing at 64.5 percent capacity, said AISI. This is down from the prior week's 65.3 percent though up from the corresponding week of last year's 50.7 percent.
On a regional basis, as measured by AISI, US raw steel output in the seven days ended November 21 rose from the previous week by 20,000 nt in the North East Coast district, and also rose in the Pittsburgh/Youngstown district (+2,000 nt); the Lake Erie district (+5,000 nt) and the Midwest district (+7,000 nt), though it fell in all other districts, with the largest week-on-week decreases taking place in the Southern district (-22,000 nt) and the Indiana/Chicago district (-15,000 nt).
Year-to-date raw steel production in the US through November 21, 2009 totaled 55,313,000 nt, which is down 41.4 percent from the 94,452,000 nt produced YTD November 21, 2008.
YTD capacity utilization amongst US steelmakers as of November 21 was 49.9 percent, compared to 84.7 percent for the corresponding period of 2008.