Raw steel production in the US declined for the 17th 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 13 was 1.17 million short tons, down 1.2% 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 49.0% of capacity in the current versus an estimated 88.1% a year ago, as mills continue 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, and is lagging by approximately 4.8 million st or nearly 5%.

 

US steel mills produced 98.30 million st of raw steel for the 50 weeks through December 13, compared with 103 million st in the same period a year ago.

 

The cumulative capacity utilization rate for 2008 is 82.9%, compared with 87.0% in 2007.

 

Steel mills in the South, the Northeast and the Indiana/Chicago region increased raw steel output for the week ended December 13, while mills in the rest of the country continued to reduce production. The South produced 376,000 st (+8.4%), Indiana/Chicago produced 324,000 (+3.8%) and the Northeast was 91,000 (+4.6%). Pittsburgh/Youngstown produced 110,000 st (-12.7%%); the Midwest was 154,000 st (-11.5%); Detroit was 57,000 st (-8.1%); the West was 37,000 st (-31.5%); and Lake Erie was just 19,000 st (-5.0%). Over the past year, Lake Erie mills have produced as much as 104,000 st of raw steel in a week.

 

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