US steel production falls slightly

As reported this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), raw steel production in the US dropped 0.7 percent to 2.001 million nt during the week ended March 17, 2007. The previous week's numbers showed 2.017 million nt of raw steel produced by the US. Steel production for the week ended March 17, 2007 was down 9.2 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 17, 2007, recording a total of 617,000 nt, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district with 506,000 nt. The district that produced the least raw steel was the Lake Erie district, with 92,000 nt. Year-to-date net tonnage as of March 17, 2007 registered at 21.3 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 82.9 percent. This compares to YTD net tonnage of 23.0 million nt on March 17, 2006, with an average capability utilization rate of 89.1 percent.