Raw steel production in the Great Lakes region declined again to 585,000 tons in the Great Lakes region last week

Capacity utilization was 68.6 percent last week, and overall U.S. production lags 2014 by 6.7 percent.

Local steel production dropped by 6,000 tons, or 1 percent in the week that ended Saturday, according to an American Iron and Steel Institute estimate. Overall U.S. steel output however rose by 1.3 percent over the same period.

Most of the raw steel production in the Great Lakes region takes place in the Chicago area, mainly Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana. Indiana has led the nation in steel production for more than 30 years.

Production in the Southern District, typically the country's second-biggest steel-producing region, jumped to 541,000 tons last week, up significantly from the 511,000 tons produced the week before.

Total domestic raw steel production last week was about 1.621 million tons, up from 1.6 million tons a week earlier.

Nationally, domestic steel mills had a capacity utilization rate of 68.6 percent last week, up from 67.7 percent a week earlier. The capacity utilization rate had been 76.6 percent at the same time a year earlier.

Year-to-date output was 24.7 million net tons, at a capacity utilization rate of 72.6 percent, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Production so far this year trails the 2014 rate by 6.7 percent, while capacity utilization lags last year by 12 percent.