US crude steel production slipped by 1.9pc to 1.2mn nt (1.1mn) with a capacity utilization of 52.7pc for the week ended May 16, 2020, compared to the prior week according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Weekly production fell by 37.2pc from 1.9mn nt with a capability utilization of 80.8pc in the same week last year.
Adjusted year-to-date, production through May 16 was 32mn nt, at a capacity utilization rate of 71.2pc, down 13.6pc from 37.1mn nt during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 81.4pc, AISI reported.
Against the prior week, production per district as a total of US production remained almost unchanged at 7.7pc in the Northeast, 33.8pc in the Great Lakes, 10.5pc in Midwest, 42.9pc in South, and at 5.1pc in West. At a combined production level of 906,000nt, the Great Lakes and South contributed 76.7pc of all crude steel produced in the US.
Compared to the same week last year, crude steel production in the Northeast declined by 53.8pc to 91,000nt; Great Lakes fell by 45.9pc to 399,000nt; Midwest declined by 38.3pc to 124,000nt; South decreased by 27.4pc to 507,000nt; and the West decreased by 9.1pc to 60,000nt. The Great Lakes and South constituted 75.6pc of total US crude steel a combined output of 1.4mn nt in the same week a year ago.
Capacity rates in the fifty percentiles were last experienced in 2009. The decline is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Capability for the Q2 2020 is approximately 29.1mn nt, or 4pc lower, compared to 30.3mn nt for the same period last year and 30.1mn mt for the Q1 2020.