US raw steel production for the week ended August 29 rose by 0.6 percent from the prior week, marking the tenth-consecutive week of output increases, according to figures released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Monday.
AISI reported Monday that total crude steel production in the United States for the week ended August 29 amounted to approximately 1,311,000 net tons (nt), which is up from the reported 1,304,000 nt produced in the week ended August 22, 2009, and down 39.3 percent the 2,158,000 nt produced in the same week of 2008.
Percent capability utilization of US steel producers rose to 54.9 percent in the week ended August 29, up from 54.7 percent in the prior week.
The AISI reports that year-to-date, US raw steel production totaled 37,843,000 nt as of August 29, 2009, which compares to output of 74,179,000 nt for the same period of last year. Year-to-date percent capability utilization as of August 29 was reported as 46.1 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.