US steel production inches up 0.1 percent

As was reported this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), during the week ended January 27, 2007, raw steel production in the US increased by 0.1 percent from the previous week, rising to 1.919 million net tons (nt). The previous week's numbers showed 1.918 million nt of raw steel produced by the US. Steel production for the week ended January 27, 2007 was down 4.7 percent from the 2.014 million net tons produced the same week of last year. Although production numbers are down year on year, steel production has continued to rise on a weekly basis since the beginning of the current year. The Southern district produced the most raw steel for the week ended January 27, 2007, reaching 605,000 nt, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district with 480,000 nt. The district that produced the least raw steel was the Lake Erie district, with 87,000 nt. Year-to-date net tonnage as of January 27, 2007 registered at 7.5 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 80.3 percent. This compares to YTD net tonnage of 8.0 million nt on January 27, 2006, with an average capability utilization rate of 85.6 percent.