U.S. crude steel production fell 2.1% week-on-week last week

According to the latest statistics from the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI), in the week ending August 29, domestic crude steel production in the United States was 1.38 million short tons, and the capacity utilization rate was 61.7%. This is a decrease of 24.9% from the crude steel output (1.84 million short tons) of the same week last year as of August 29, 2019, when the weekly capacity utilization rate was as high as 79.1%.

Crude steel output in the last week of August this year also decreased by 2.1% compared to the week before August 22. The crude steel output in the previous week was 1.41 million short tons and the capacity utilization rate was 63%.

According to adjusted statistics, the cumulative crude steel production in the United States from the beginning of the year to August 29 was 51.84 million short tons, and the cumulative capacity utilization rate was 66%, which was a 20.1% decrease from the cumulative crude steel output of 64.92 million short tons in the same period last year. At that time, the cumulative capacity utilization rate was 80.7%.

In the first seven months of 2020, the total US steel imports and finished steel imports were 15.09 million short tons and 10.01 million short tons, respectively, down 19.2% and 26.1% compared with the same period in 2019. After annualized calculations, the total US steel imports and finished steel imports in 2020 will reach 25.9 million short tons and 17.2 million short tons, a year-on-year decrease of 7.4% and 18.5% respectively.

According to the American Iron and Steel Association, the proportion of imported finished steel in the US domestic market in July is estimated to be 20%, and the cumulative proportion in the first seven months of 2020 is expected to be 19%.