As reported this week by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), during the week ended July 26, 2008, raw steel production in the US increased by 1.4 percent from the previous week, and by 4.1 percent from the same week of the previous year.
Raw steel production in the United States rose to 2.142 million net tons (nt) for the week ended July 26, compared to 2.114 million nt of steel produced the previous week, and 2.059 million nt produced the same week a year ago.
As usual, the Southern district produced the most raw steel for the week ended July 26, 2008, with 679,000 nt, followed by the Indiana/Chicago district with 504,000 nt.
Year-to-date net tonnage as of July 26, 2008 registered at 62.8 million nt with mills working at an average capability utilization rate of 88.6 percent. This compares to YTD net tonnage of 61,353 million nt on July 26, 2007 with an average capability utilization rate of 85.9 percent.