Raw steel production in the country's Great Lakes region was 637,000 tons in the week ending March 16, according to estimates from the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Production was down 29,000 tons from the week prior. The majority of raw steel production in the Great Lakes region occurs in Indiana and the Chicago area.
Production in the Southern District was estimated at 614,000 tons last week, down from 619,000 tons a week earlier.
Total domestic raw steel production last week was 1.8 million tons
U.S. steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 74.5 percent last week, which is down from a 76.3 percent production rate a week earlier. The capacity utilization rate at this time last year was 79.6 percent.
Domestic mills have produced about 20 million tons of steel this year, down 7.6 percent from the same period in 2012. Last year at this time, domestic mills produced about 21.6 million tons of steel.
The American Iron and Steel Institute reported for the month of January, U.S. steel mills shipped 8,210,726 net tons, a 9.7 percent increase from the 7,483,120 net tons shipped in the previous month, December 2012, and a 3.4 percent decrease from the 8,497,932 net tons shipped in January 2012.
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