In the week ending March 27, 2010, domestic raw steel production was 1,734,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 71.7 percent. Production was 983,000 tons in the week ending March 27, 2009, while the capability utilization then was 41.1 percent. The current week production represents a +76.4 percent increase from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending March 27, 2010 is up +0.8 percent from the previous week ending March 20, 2010 when production was 1,720,000 tons and the rate of capability utilization was 71.1 percent.
Adjusted year-to-date production through March 27, 2010 was 20,121,000 tons, at a capability utilization rate of 67.7 percent. That is a +60.4 percent increase from the 12,548,000 tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 42.9 percent.
Broken down by districts, the production for the week ending March 27, 2010 in thousands of net tons was as follows: Northeast Coast: 143; Pittsburgh/Youngstown: 115; Lake Erie: 45; Detroit: 113; Indiana/Chicago: 482; Midwest: 233; Southern: 535 and Western: 68.