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).
See why technical analysis is a superior forecasting methodology over fundamental analysis and why it matters for your steel buy.

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.
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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