The ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor office tower off in the distance.
Great Lakes steel production slipped to 737,000 tons last week, a slight decrease.
Steel mills in the Great Lakes region made 741,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced around the southern shore of Lake Michigan in Lake and Porter counties, which are home to half the nation's blast furnace capacity.
Overall, domestic steel mills made 1.895 million tons of steel last week, down from 1.903 million tons the previous week.
U.S. steel mills have run at a capacity utilization rate of 81.9% through April 27, up from 76.4% at the same point in 2018, according to the AISI.
Domestic steelmakers used about 81.4% of their steel-making capacity in the week that ended April 27, up from 76% a year earlier, but down from 81.8% the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.
A steel capacity utilization rate of 83.4% earlier this year was the highest level reached in the United States since September 2008, according to the trade publication Platts.
The domestic steel industry has not been running at 80% capacity for years. The capacity utilization rate has been significantly higher this year, in the wake of the 25% percent tariffs on all steel imports, than during the most recent downturn, when blast furnaces were taken offline at ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor in East Chicago and elsewhere.
So far this year, domestic steel mills in the United States have made 31.8 million tons of steel, a 6.8% increase over the same period in 2018.
Production in the Southern district, a wide geographic swath that includes many mini mills, dropped to 696,000 tons last week, down from 720,000 tons the previous week.
Steel output in the greater Midwest ticked up to 188,000 tons last week, up from 186,000 tons the previous week.
Joseph S. Pete
Business Reporter
Joseph S. Pete is a Lisagor Award-winning business reporter who covers steel, industry, unions, the ports, retail, banking and more. The Indiana University grad has been with The Times since 2013 and blogs about craft beer, culture and the military.
