US steel production inches up 1.0 percent

As reported this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), during the week ended March 3, 2007, raw steel production in the US increased by 1.0 percent from the previous week, to 1.981 million net tons (nt). The previous week's numbers showed 1.961 million nt of raw steel produced by the US. Steel production for the week ended March 3, 2007 was down 6.8 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 March 3, 2007, registering output of 608,000 nt, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district with 512,000 nt. The district that produced the least raw steel was the Lake Erie district with 83,000 nt. Year-to-date net tonnage as of March 3, 2007 registered at 17.3 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 82.2 percent. This compares to YTD net tonnage of 18.6 million nt on March 3, 2006 with an average capability utilization rate of 87.0 percent.