US raw steel production picked up last week as production from Southern mills rebounded, data published Monday by the American Iron and Steel Institute showed.

For the week ended Saturday, mills produced 1.856 million st of raw steel, up 1.5% from 1.829 million st the week before. Capability utilization edged up to 77.5% from 76.3%.

Last week's output represents a 6.4% increase from the year-ago week, when mills produced 1.744 million st of steel, operating at a 70.1% utilization rate.