US steel production trended lower through April

Market: Coking coal, Metals
24/05/22

US steel production through April continued to lag behind 2021 levels.

The US produced 27.1mn metric tonnes (t) (29.9mn short tons) year to date through April, down by 0.7pc compared to the same period of 2021, according to data from the World Steel Association.

It was the second consecutive month that US steel production has lagged its prior year period.

US steelmaking capacity utilization rates have been at or above 79pc since late-May 2021, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

An Argus analysis of the AISI data shows implied annual capacity rates trending down since early May 2021 as steelmakers focus resources on more efficient plants.

The analysis shows a loss of 4.69mn t of raw steel production capacity, or a 4pc decline in steel production, over the last year.

Multiple plants have been mothballed or demolished. Integrated steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs idled its 2.1mn st/yr No. 4 blast furnace at its Indiana Harbor steelmaking complex in April, and in 2021 it began demolishing the 2.2mn st/yr Ashland Works in Kentucky.

Integrated steelmaker US Steel indefinitely idled the 1.4mn st/yr blast furnace A at its Granite City, Illinois steel mill, in mid-July 2021. The company closed down the remaining raw steelmaking capacity at its Great Lakes, Michigan mill in April 2020.

Data collected by the AISI covers all steelmaking types such as flat-rolled, plate, and long products.

By Rye Druzin

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