The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has reported that US raw steel production declined by 3.3 percent last week (ended April 18), compared to the prior week.
Total raw steel production in the United States last week amounted to approximately 999,000 net tons (nt), according to the AISI, down from the reported 1,033,000 nt produced in the week ended April 11 2009. Compared to the same week of 2008, US raw steel production last week was down 53.7 percent.
Percent capability utilization of US raw steelmaking facilities was 41.9 percent in the week ended April 18, 2009, compared to 43.3 percent in the prior week, and 90.3 percent in the same week of last year.
The AISI reports that year-to-date US raw steel production totaled 15,694,000 nt as of April 18, 2009, which reflects a 52.9 percent reduction in output from the 33,297,000 nt produced in the same period of last year. Year-to-date percent capability utilization as of April 18 was reported as 42.6 percent, which is down from the 90.5 percent YTD capability utilization rate for the same period of 2008.