US steel production drops 2.9 percent

As was reported this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), raw steel production in the US saw a week-on-week drop for the first time this year, falling by 2.9 percent to 1.915 million nt during the week ended February 17, 2007. The previous week's numbers showed 1.973 million nt of raw steel produced by the US. Steel production for the week ended February 17, 2007 was down 9.9 percent from the 2.126 million net tons produced the same week of last year. The Southern district produced the most raw steel for the week ended February 17, 2007, registering 629,000 nt, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district with 481,000 nt. The district that produced the least raw steel was the Lake Erie district with 82,000 nt. Year-to-date net tonnage as of February 17, 2007 totaled 13.4 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 81.7 percent. This compares to YTD net tonnage of 14.4 million nt on February 17, 2006, with an average capability utilization rate of 87.0 percent.