The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has reported that US raw steel production dropped by 4.1 percent last week (ended April 4), compared to the prior week.
Total raw steel production in the United States last week amounted to approximately 965,000 net tons (nt), according to the AISI. Compared to the same week of 2008, US raw steel production last week was down 55.1 percent.
Percent capability utilization of US raw steelmaking facilities was 40.4 percent in the week ended April 4, 2009, compared to 42.1 percent in the prior week, and 90.0 percent in the same week of last year.
The AISI reports that year-to-date US raw steel production totaled 13,662,000 nt as of April 4, 2009, which reflects a 52.9 percent reduction in output from the 28,989,000 nt produced in the same period of last year. Year-to-date percent capability utilization as of April 4 was reported as 42.6 percent, which is down from the 90.5 percent YTD capability utilization rate for the same period of 2008.