Pittsburgh (Platts)--15Oct2012/524 pm EDT/2124 GMT

For the third consecutive week, US weekly raw steel production hit a new low for the year, according to American Iron and Steel Institute data Monday.

US steel mills produced an estimated 1.736 million short tons of steel in the week ended October 13, which is 1.2% less than the prior week's 1.757 million st. Capability utilization fell to 70.3% from 71.1% the previous week. In the comparable week of 2011, the 41st week, mills produced 1.781 million st of steel operating at 71.9%.

Year-to-date production is up 4.1% year on year, totaling 77.703 million st through October 13 in 2012, compared to 74.655 million st produced in the same period last year. Average capability utilization is 76.7% this year, versus 74.5% this time last year.

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A 3.7% decrease in output from Southern mills drove down the week's total. Last week, mills in the AISI's southern district fell to 596,000 st, down from 619,000 st the previous week. Western district production also fell by 6,000 st, or 6.6%, to 84,000 st. The Great Lakes region's production decreased by 1,000 st week on week, slipping to 600,000 st.

The Midwest region's production increased by 1,000 st, reaching 247,000 st last week. The Northeast mills yielded 3.9% more steel week on week, reaching 209,000 st.

AISI determines its weekly raw steel production using data from 50% of the domestic industry and estimates the rest with monthly data.

--Estelle Tran, estelle_tran@platts.com
--Edited by Richard Rubin, richard_rubin@platts.com

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