According to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the US's crude steel output totaled 1.856 million short tons in the week ended on August 31st, down by 0.3% from a week ago but down by 2.2% in comparison of the figures in the same week in 2012.
In the given period of time, the capability utilization of the US steelmakers averaged at 77.5%, lower than 77.7% from the previous week but higher than 76.3% in the same period of a year ago.