US raw steel mill utilization rates inched up to 77.8% in the week ended Feb. 14 from 77.1% the previous week, the American Iron and Steel Institute said Feb. 16.

Production during the week totaled 1.800 million net tons, equivalent to short tons, up 1.0% from the week ended Feb. 7 when production was 1.783 million nt.

Production increased 5.6% from the corresponding week a year ago, when capability utilization was at 76.5% and production totaled 1.705 million nt.

Adjusted year-to-date production through Feb. 14 totaled 11.357 million nt, with a capability utilization rate of 76.4%. This is up 4.0% from the 10.923 million nt produced in the same period a year ago, when the utilization rate was 76.4%.

Broken down by AISI district, production totaled 123,000 nt in the Northeast, 511,000 nt in the Great Lakes region, 272,000 nt in the Midwest, 826,000 nt in the Southern district, and 68,000 nt in the Western region.