Raw steel production in the US declined for the 16th consecutive week and dropped to levels not seen in the past 25 years, according to data reported Monday by the Washington DC-based American Iron and Steel Institute.

 

The volume for the week ended December 6 was 1.18 million short tons, down 1.3% from the previous week and 45% off the 2008 peak of 2.167 million st reported for the week ended August 16.

 

Steel mills operated at an estimated 49.5% of capacity versus an estimated 50.2% in the previous week and 88.1% a year ago, as mills continued to cut production to meet dwindling demand. The weekly capacity utilization rate is "the lowest since February 1983," analyst Michelle Applebaum commented in a recent Steel Market Intelligence report.

 

Aggregate production for 2008 is now falling behind last year's pace, lagging by more than 3.5 million st or nearly 4%.

 

US steel mills produced 97.13 million st of raw steel for the 49 weeks through December 6, compared with 101 million st in the same period a year ago.

 

The cumulative capacity utilization rate for the year is 84.3%, compared with 87.0% in 2007.

 

The South actually increased raw steel output by 5.5% in the most recent reporting period and produced 347,000 st of raw steel last week. Production also rose in Indiana/Chicago, which produced 312,000 st (+6.5%); the Midwest produced 174,000 st (-11.7%); Pittsburgh/Youngstown was 126,000 st (+9.6%); the Northeast was 87,000 st (-6.5%); Detroit was 62,000 st (-12.7%); the West was 54,000 st (+1.9%); and Lake Erie was just 20,000 st (-56.5%). Weekly production in the Lake Erie region has been as high as 104,000 st this year.

 

AISI's weekly figures are based on estimated raw steel production from a sampling of steel producers representing about 50% of US steel manufacturing capacity. Because the figures are compiled anonymously, it is not possible to identify which mills in each region may have reduced or raised production. –Platts