After rising for 18 consecutive weeks, US weekly raw steel output decreased by 0.8 percent last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
AISI reported Monday that US raw steel production in the week ended October 31, 2009, totaled 1,495,000 nt, which is down 0.8 percent from the previous week, and down 11.2 percent from the same week of last year. Last week was the first week since the second week of June 2009 in which US raw steel output decreased when compared to the preceding week.
In the week ended October 31, US steelmakers were producing at 62.7 percent capacity, said AISI. This is down from the prior week's 63.2 percent and the corresponding week of last year's 70.5 percent.
Year-to-date raw steel production in the US in the first ten months of this year totaled 50,675,000 nt, which is down 44.2 percent from the 90,825,000 nt produced YTD October 31, 2008.
YTD capacity utilization amongst US steelmakers as of October 31 was 48.9 percent, compared to 88.0 percent for the first ten months of 2008.