Great Lakes steel production slipped by 6,000 tons, while steel
capacity utilization fell last week, according to the American Iron and Steel
Institute.
Locally, steel mills
in the Great Lakes region, clustered mainly along the south shore of Lake
Michigan in Northwest Indiana, made 562,000 tons of metal in the week that
ended Sept. 17, down from 568,000 tons the previous week.
Steel mills remained
below 80% capacity, a key threshold they operated at for most of last year,
following the latest wave of industry consolidation, imposition of blanket
tariffs of 25%, strong demand and generally favorable market conditions.
Imports have been rising again after steel prices soared to record highs.