Great Lakes steel production dipped by 4,000 tons last week, while U.S. steel mills dropped back under 85% capacity utilization, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
National steel output is more than 20% higher than at the same time last year, when steel mills sunk to just over half-capacity early in the coronavirus pandemic. With strong demand and soaring prices, the mills have been operating at more than 80% capacity for most of this year.
Steel mills in the Great Lakes region, clustered mainly along the south shore of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana, made 635,000 tons of metal in the week that ended Oct. 23, down from 639,000 tons the previous week.
Overall, domestic steel mills in the United States made 1.87 million tons of steel last week, down 0.6% from 1.881 million tons the previous week, and up 20.7% compared to 1.549 million tons the same time a year prior, when the onset of the coronavirus pandemic shut down auto plants and other factories, greatly depleting the demand for steel.