In the week ending on November 20, 2021, domestic raw steel production was 1,861,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 84.3 percent. Production was 1,621,000 net tons in the week ending November 20, 2020 while the capability utilization then was 73.3 percent. The current week production represents a 14.8 percent increase from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending November 20, 2021 is up 0.3 percent from the previous week ending November 13, 2021 when production was 1,856,000 net tons and the rate of capability utilization was 84.1 percent.

Adjusted year-to-date production through November 20, 2021 was 84,437,000 net tons, at a capability utilization rate of 81.6 percent. That is up 19.9 percent from the 70,432,000 net tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 67.7 percent.

Broken down by districts, here’s production for the week ending November 20, 2021 in thousands of net tons: North East: 175; Great Lakes: 617; Midwest: 205; Southern: 787 and Western: 77 for a total of 1861.

The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided by approximately 50% of the domestic production capacity combined with the most recent monthly production data for the remainder. Therefore, this report should be used primarily to assess production trends. The AISI production report “AIS 7”, published monthly and available by subscription, provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing 75% of U.S. production capacity.

Given the large number of changes to steelmaking capability in the current rapidly evolving market environment, AISI is undertaking a comprehensive review of its raw steel production and capability utilization statistics to ensure that they accurately reflect market conditions. Any updates to capability will be phased in over several weeks. Capability for the fourth quarter 2021 is approximately 29.0 million tons.