Industry Data

Weekly Raw Steel Production

In the week ending on May 16, 2026, domestic raw steel production was 1,898,000 net tons while the capability utilization rate was 82.2 percent. Production was 1,720,000 net tons in the week ending May 16, 2025, while the capability utilization then was 76.6 percent. The current week production represents a 10.3 percent increase from the same period in the previous year. Production for the week ending May 16, 2026 is up 1.0 percent from the previous week ending May 9, 2026 when production was 1,880,000 net tons and the rate of capability utilization was 81.4 percent.

Adjusted year-to-date production through May 16, 2026, was 35,183,000 net tons, at a capability utilization rate of 78.3 percent. That is up 6.5 percent from the 33,021,000 net tons during the same period last year, when the capability utilization rate was 76.2 percent.

Broken down by districts, here’s production for the week ending May 16, 2026, in thousands of net tons: North East: 133; Great Lakes: 533; Midwest: 313; Southern: 853; and Western: 66 for a total of 1898.

The raw steel production tonnage provided in this report is estimated. The figures are compiled from weekly production tonnage provided by approximately 50% of the domestic production capacity combined with the most recent monthly production data for the remainder. Therefore, this report should be used primarily to assess production trends. The AISI production report “AIS 7”, published monthly and available by subscription, provides a more detailed summary of steel production based on data supplied by companies representing 75% of U.S. production capacity.