Great Lakes steel production dropped to 648,000 tons last week, a 1.21 percent decrease.

Steel mills in the Great Lakes region made 656,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced in Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana.

Overall, domestic steel mills made 1.69 million tons of metal last week, a 0.82 percent decline compared to the previous week.

U.S. steel mills have run at a capacity utilization rate of 72.1 percent so far this year, down from 74.5 percent at the same time in 2017.

Domestic steelmakers used about 72.6 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended Jan. 20, down from 74.5 percent at the same time last year and from 73.2 percent the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Some analysts say steelmaking capacity utilization of about 90 percent is considered financially healthy for the industry.

Overall, U.S. national steel output dropped by 14,000 tons last week to 1.69 million tons, down from 1.7 million tons the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Production in the Southern district, nearly always the second largest steelmaking region after the Great Lakes, fell to 599,000 tons last week, down from 614,000 tons the previous week. Steel output in the Midwest dropped slightly to 160,000 tons last week, down from 161,000 tons the previous week.

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