The nation’s ability to produce steel will...

The nation’s ability to produce steel will increase this year after declining for seven consecutive years, the American Iron and Steel Institute said. The industry’s raw steel production capability is expected to reach 115.9 million tons this year, compared to 112 million tons in 1988, the low point of the decade. The AISI said the figure was projected from a December survey of all mills with furnaces for melting. The increase from 1988 to 1989 is mostly a result of newer and more efficient equipment. Those capital investments have paid off with increased yield of finished products per ton of raw steel, the AISI said.