US raw steel production rose in the second week of 2013 from the week before, but output fell on a year-on-year basis, according to data the American Iron and Steel Institute released Monday.
For the week that ended Saturday, the US steel industry produced 1.819 million short tons of steel, up about 3.6% from the prior week's 1.756 million st. Capability utilization increased to 75.9% last week from 72.6% for the week ended January 5.
AISI noted in a statement that capability for the first quarter of 2013 is about 30.8 million st, compared with 32.7 million st in Q4 2012 and 32.3 million st in Q1 2012.
US mills produced 5.2% less steel in the second week of this year than in the same week a year ago -- 1.918 million st, when capability utilization was 77.6%.
Year-to-date output is down 6.4%, as production totaled 3.58 million st, down from 3.82 million st at the same time last year. Average capability utilization was 74.3% this year, down from 77.6% this time last year.
Production increased in all districts except the Midwest.
In the Northeast, raw steel output was 192,000 st, up 3.2% from 186,000 st the week before. Production in the Great Lakes region rose to 660,000 st, up 3.3% from 639,000 st the week before.
Southern district production jumped 6.7% to 620,000 st from 581,000 st in the prior week, while western district production climbed to 88,000 st, up 7.3% from 82,000 the week before.
Midwest steel production fell to 259,000 last week, down 3.4% from 268,000 st the week prior.
AISI determines weekly raw steel production data based on weekly data from 50% of the domestic industry and estimates the rest using monthly production data.
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