US raw steel output declined by 2.7 percent during the holiday week of Thanksgiving, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported Monday.
AISI reported that US raw steel production in the week ended November 28, 2009 totaled 1,499,000 nt, down from 1,540,000 nt in the previous week, though up 24.0 percent from the same week of last year.
In the week ended November 28, US steelmakers were producing at 62.8 percent capacity, said AISI. This is down from the prior week's 64.5 percent though up from the corresponding week of last year's 50.7 percent.
Year-to-date raw steel production in the US through November 28, 2009 totaled 56,812,000 nt, which is down 40.7 percent from the 95,661,000 nt produced YTD November 28, 2008. YTD capacity utilization amongst US steelmakers as of November 28 was 50.2 percent, compared to 84.7 percent for the corresponding period of 2008.