U.S. steel sector capacity utilization rate rises to 69.4%
The U.S. steel sector continued to show incremental gains in capacity utilization last week.
Capacity utilization by U.S. mills rose to 69.4% for the week ending Oct. 17, 2020, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
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U.S. steel sector continues capacity gains
For the week ending Oct. 17, the U.S. steel sector’s capacity utilization rate rose to 69.4%, producing 1.54 million tons in the process.
The weekly output marked a 15.0% year-over-year decline. Output during the week ending Oct. 17, 2019, totaled 1.81 million tons at a capacity utilization rate of 78.0%.
Meanwhile, production for the week ending Oct. 17, 2020, rose 2.2% from the previous week. For the week ending Oct. 10, 2020, production reached 1.50 million net tons at a capacity utilization rate of 67.9%.
YTD output down 19.4%
Adjusted year-to-date production through Oct. 17 reached 62.48 million net tons. Capacity utilization rate during the period reached 66.3%.
The year-to-date output is down 19.4% from the 77.55 million net tons during the same period last year. The capacity utilization rate during that period reached 80.1%.
Regional output
According to the AISI, output by region for the week ending Oct. 17 totaled:
- Northeast: 143,000 net tons
- Great Lakes: 557,000 net tons
- Midwest: 164,000 net tons
- Southern: 601,000 net tons
- Western: 70,00 0net tons
Steel price gains
As noted previously, U.S. steel prices have showed upward momentum in recent weeks.
The U.S. HRC price is up 13.75% over the last month after closing Monday at $637 per short ton.
U.S. CRC is up 10.97% month over month after closing Monday at $809 per short ton.
Meanwhile, U.S. HDG rose 11.07% month over month to $893 per short ton.
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