Estimated losses to US auto production grow

Forecasts for North American automotive production cuts continued to grow on the back of semiconductor shortages.

AutoForecast Solutions increased the number of automotive builds expected to be lost in 2022 by 5,000 vehicles to 277,000 from the prior week, which was up by 23,000 vehicles from two weeks ago.

More than 300,000 vehilces are at risk of not being built, with just over 200,000 listed as recoverable, according to the forecaster's weekly update. An additional 200,000 vehicles are forecasted as potentially impacted.

The automotive industry is one of the single largest consumers of steel products in North America. The average North American vehicle consumes 1,980lbs of steel, of which approximately 1,480lbs are flat-rolled products, and 486lbs of aluminum, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute's (AISI) Automotive Program.

Using those estimates approximately 205,000 short tons of flat-rolled steel product consumption has been lost this year from the curtailed production.

By Rye Druzin