Domestic steel mills produced an estimated 1.735 million tons of steel last week, up 0.4% from 1.728 million tons the previous week. Steel production in the Great Lakes region, which includes mills in Northwest Indiana, rose by 5,000 tons or 0.9% to 555,000 tons. However, steel production so far this year is trailing last year's pace by 2.7% nationally.
U.S. steel mills have run at a capacity utilization rate of 76.5% through Saturday, down from 77.9% at the same point in 2022. Steel capacity utilization was 78.1% last week, up from 77.9% a year earlier and up from 77.8% a week earlier.
Steel producers like Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, and ArcelorMittal have recently announced price hikes for flat-rolled steel products in an effort to halt the bearish price trend seen in recent months. However, steel prices have yet to show a slowdown in their downward momentum.
