Great Lakes steel production fell to 662,000 tons last week, a slight decrease of 0.7 percent.

Steel mills in the Great Lakes region cranked out 672,000 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.

So far this year, U.S. steelmakers have produced 53.8 million tons of steel, about 2.7 percent more than they did during the same period in 2016. Steel mills have been running at a capacity of 74.5 percent so far this year, up from 72.4 percent through the same time last year.

Domestic steelmakers used about 75.6 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended Aug. 5, down from 75.9 percent the previous week but up from 70.9 percent at the same time a year earlier, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Some analysts say 90 percent would be considered healthy for the industry.

Overall, U.S. national steel output dipped by 7,000 tons last week to 1.762 million tons, a 0.39 percent decrease, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.

Production in the Southern District, nearly always the country's second-largest steel-producing region, which spans mini-mills across the South, ticked up to 642,000 tons last week, up from 640,000 tons the previous week.

 

Source:nwitimes.com

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