Capacity utilization at US steel mills in the last week fell to its lowest level in more than a decade as more mills curtailed production as the Covid-19 pandemic hits demand and forces operations to idle.
Utilization rates fell to 56.1pc, the lowest since September 2009, when the US economy was starting to emerge from the global economic crisis. The sharp drops in utilization rates and production show that the steel industry, which spent much of the last year above 80pc utilization, is being hurt by coronavirus shutdowns.
US steelmakers have been curtailing production rapidly in the face of Covid-19-related shutdowns in the North American auto industry. The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic have brought large sections of the US economy to a halt.
Total output fell by 18pc to 1.26mn short tons (st) during the week ended 11 April. Steel output fell by 35pc compared with the same week last year, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
Steel production in the Great Lakes region took the hardest hit in the last week, plunging by 119,000st to 430,000st. Northeastern production followed, falling by 90,000st to 104,000st.
Southern steel production dropped by 46,000st to 556,000st, while Midwestern production fell by 17,000st to 122,000st. Production in the western region fell by 6,000st to 44,000st.
Total US production year to date fell by 4.9pc to 26.32mn st compared with the same period last year. Average capacity utilization year to date was 77.9pc, compared with 81.5pc in the same period of 2019.
AISI's raw steel production tonnage is estimated and compiled using weekly data provided by 50pc of domestic producers and monthly data for the remainder.
