More than 95 million tons of steel were manufactured in the United States in 2018, the most since 2007 and in increase in 6.2 percent from 2017.

According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), American mills averaged running at about 78 percent production capacity, up from about 74 percent the year prior. While the increase is encouraging after an industry downturn, it hasn’t quite reached the 90 percent level that some experts consider indicative of a strong economy.

In recent years, production has averaged about 82 million tons. That was substantially less than the 98 million tons produced in 2007.