US raw steel mill utilization rates rose to 75.0% in the week ended March 8, up from 73.7% the previous week, American Iron and Steel Institute data showed March 10.

Production during the week totaled 1.671 million st, up 1.8% from the week ended March 1, when production was 1.641 million st.

Production decreased 1.5% from the corresponding week a year ago, when capability utilization was at 76.4% and production totaled 1.696 million st.

Adjusted year-to-date production through March 8 totaled 15.850 million st, with a capability utilization rate of 74.4%. This is down 1.3% from the 16.055 million st produced in the same period a year ago, when the utilization rate was 75.8%. Broken down by AISI district, production totaled 128,000 st in the Northeast, 472,000 st in the Great Lakes region, 237,000 st in the Midwest, 762,000 st in the Southern District, and 72,000 st in the Western region.