As reported this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), during the week ended March 31, 2007 raw steel production in the US increased by 1.2 percent from the previous week, rising to 2.031 million net tons (nt).
The previous week's numbers showed 2.006 million nt of raw steel produced by the US. Steel production for the week ended March 31, 2007 was down 7.9 percent from the 2.206 million net tons produced the same week of last year.
The Southern district produced the most raw steel for the week ended March 31, 2007 with a total of 616,000 nt, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district with 509,000 nt. The district that produced the least raw steel was the Lake Erie district with 88,000 nt.
Year-to-date net tonnage as of March 31, 2007 registered at 25.3 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 83.4 percent. This compares to YTD net tonnage of 27.5 million nt on March 31, 2006 with an average capability utilization rate of 89.1 percent.