This Morning in Metals: Steel capacity utilization rate reaches 71.5%

steel
gui yong nian/Adobe Stock

This morning in metals news: the U.S. steel capacity utilization rate reached 71.5% last week; the Energy Information released its monthly energy review; and the nickel price continues to move upward.
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Steel capacity utilization rate hits 71.5%

The U.S. steel capacity utilization rate hit 71.5% for the week ended Nov. 21, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported.
U.S. steel output for the week totaled 1.58 million net tons, up 0.1% from the previous week but down 13.2% year over year.
For the year through Nov. 21, U.S. output totaled 70.5 million net tons, down 18.6% year over year.

EIA releases monthly energy review

Aside from steel capacity utilization, the EIA released its Monthly Energy Review today, reporting total energy production of 64.46 quadrillion btu through the first eight months of the year.
Fossil fuel production totaled 50.93 quadrillion btu during the period. Meanwhile, nuclear energy production reached 5.57 quadrillion btu and renewable energy production totaled 7.96 quadrillion btu.

The eight-month total for renewables marked an increase from the eight-month totals in 2018 and 2019.
Total energy production through the first eight months of the year fell 4% from the first eight months of 2019.

Nickel price rise

The nickel price has slowed down a bit of late but continues to make gains.
The LME three-month nickel price closed Monday at $16,065 per metric ton, up 1.7% month over month.
Since its 2020 low in late March, the nickel price is up 44%.
The MetalMiner 2021 Annual Outlook consolidates our 12-month view and provides buying organizations with a complete understanding of the fundamental factors driving prices and a detailed forecast that can be used when sourcing metals for 2021 — including expected average prices, support and resistance levels.

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