US raw steel production for the week ended August 22 rose by 1.2 percent from the prior week, marking the ninth-consecutive week of output increases, according to figures released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Tuesday.
AISI reported Tuesday that total crude steel production in the United States for the week ended August 22 amounted to approximately 1,304,000 net tons (nt), which is up from the reported 1,285,000 nt produced in the week ended August 15, 2009, and down 39.6 percent the 2,158,000 nt produced in the same week of 2008.
Percent capability utilization of US steel producers rose to 54.7 percent in the week ended August 22, up from 53.9 percent in the prior week. After dipping below 40 percent in the first week of 2009, US mills' weekly capacity utilization rates have seen steady gains in the second half of the year, remaining above 50 percent since the second week of July.
The AISI reports that year-to-date, US raw steel production totaled 36,555,000 nt as of August 22, 2009, which reflects a 49.3 percent drop in output from the same period of last year. Year-to-date percent capability utilization as of August 22 was reported as 45.8 percent, which is down from the 90.3 percent YTD capability utilization rate for the same period of 2008.
AISI's raw steel production figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided from 50 percent of the US domestic steel producers combined with monthly production data for the remainder.