U.S. raw steel production for the week ending July 11 went up 3.3% on a week-on-week basis on higher production from mills across the nation’s two biggest steel-producing regions – Great Lakes and Southern, according to the latest report from the American Iron and Steel Institute ("AISI").

The rise in output follows a 2.8% decline for the week ending July 4. Capacity utilization – a key metric in the steel industry – rose from the previous week.

Per data released by AISI – an association of North American steel makers – domestic raw steel production was 1,740,000 net tons for the reported week with a capability utilization rate of 72.8%, up from production of 1,684,000 net tons and capability utilization rate of 71.2% for the week ending July 4. But the reported weekly production dropped 9.1% from the same period a year ago.

By regions, production from Great Lakes ticked up 0.8% on a weekly basis to 633,000 net tons, marking the third straight weekly gain. Output from the Southern district – the second-largest steel-producing region – climbed around 8% to 597,000 net tons. Production from North East fell 3% from the previous week to 218,000 net tons. Raw steel production rose 2% to 209,000 net tons in the Midwest while the Western region racked up a healthy 15% gain to 83,000 net tons.

Overall year-to-date raw steel production still trails that of a year ago. Adjusted year-to-date production through July 11 clocked 46,994,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 72.4%. This represents a 7.6% fall from 50,876,000 net tons recorded in the same period a year ago. Capability utilization rate for the period also skid from 77.6% recorded last year.

According to AISI, production capacity for the second-quarter 2015 is roughly 30.7 million tons compared with 31.3 million tons a year ago and 30.4 million tons for first-quarter 2015.

Domestic steel mills are still roiled by depressed capacity utilization and a torrent of low-cost imports. U.S. steel makers including Nucor (NUE - Analyst Report), U.S. Steel (X - Analyst Report), AK Steel (AKS - Analyst Report), Steel Dynamics (STLD - Snapshot Report) and Commercial Metals Co. (CMC - Snapshot Report) have been hit hard by descending steel prices as cheap imports continue to flow into the domestic market due to foreign producers’ overcapacity. The U.S. market remains flooded by subsidized imports, especially from South Korea, China and Turkey.

Per a recent AISI report, steel shipments are down 10.5% year over year to around 36.2 million net tons in the U.S. so far this year. On the other hand, total and finished steel imports rose 3% and 14% year over year, respectively, during the first six months of 2015 based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (“SIMA”) data. Estimated year-to-date market share of finished steel import is 32%, higher than 28% recorded for full-year 2014.

On a positive note, overall steel imports are showing a declining trend on a month-on-month basis as evident from AISI reports. AISI recently said that, based on SIMA data, import permit applications dropped 13% over the previous month’s permit tonnage in June.

Finished steel import permit applications from South Korea, China and Turkey are also down 15%, 41% and 19%, respectively, from a month ago in June. This is an encouraging sign for the beleaguered American steel makers.