US steel production is slightly up

As reported this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), during the week ended February 24, 2007, raw steel production in the US increased by 2.4 percent from the previous week, rising to 1.961 million net tons (nt). The previous week's numbers showed 1.915 million nt of raw steel produced by the US. Steel production for the week ended February 24, 2007 was down 7.7 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 24, 2007, registering 616,000 nt, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district with 491,000 nt. The district that produced the least raw steel was the Lake Erie district with 84,000 nt. Year-to-date net tonnage as of February 24, 2007 stood at 15.3 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 82.0 percent. This compares to YTD net tonnage of 16.5 million nt on February 24, 2006, with an average capability utilization rate of 87.0 percent.