Global crude steel output up 4% in February – Worldsteel

Total crude steel output across 64 major producer countries was 150.2 million tonnes in February 2021, down by 8% month on month but up by 4% from February 2020, the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) said on March 23.

Compared with February 2020, most regions reported a decline in crude steel output, led by North America (down 8.9%), the European Union (down 7.1%) and Africa (down 6.4%).

China – the world’s largest steelmaker – produced about 83 million tonnes in February 2021, up 10.9% from February 2020. Total crude steel output in South Korea was up 1.2% on a year-on-year basis at about 5.5 million tonnes in February.

Output in India was 9.1 million tonnes, a decline of 3.1%, while Japan’s output fell by 5.6% to 7.5 million tonnes.

Crude steel output for February 2021 in the 27 countries of the EU totaled 11.9 million tonnes, down by 7.1% from the same month in 2020, with output in Germany dropping by 10.4% year on year to about 3.1 million tonnes after four consecutive months of recovery. 

The United States continued to report the largest decline in crude steel output among the top-10 steelmaking countries, with February’s total down by 10.9% year on year at 6.3 million tonnes.

In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), total crude steel output fell to 8 million tonnes in February 2021, down by 1.5% year on year. Meanwhile, Russia produced 5.7 million tonnes of steel, falling 1.3% compared with the same month last year.

Turkey’s crude steel production for February was 3 million tonnes, up by 3.4% on a yearly basis.

Brazil produced 2.8 million tonnes in February 2021, up by 3.8% year on year, while Iran was estimated to have produced 2.3 million tonnes over the same period, up by 11.5% from 2020 – the largest rate of increase among the top-10 steelmaking countries, Worldsteel said.

What to read next
Paper Excellence Group (PE) informed North American customers its baled paper grade bleached softwood kraft (BSK) market pulp prices will increase, effective May 1, Fastmarkets has learned. Richmond, BC-headquartered PE announced a northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) list price of $1,690/tonne. PE did not state how much that’s up, however it is $80/tonne higher than […]
What factors are driving the significant downturn in US housing starts, accompanied by a decrease in building permits?
This consultation, which is open until May 26, 2024, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications, and publication frequency. You can […]
This consultation, which is open until May 26, 2024, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications, and publication frequency. You can […]
After a consultation period that began on February 19, 2024, and ended on March 21 2024, Fastmarkets has discontinued Region 4 log prices. The last assessment published March 2024.  To provide feedback on this or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to Log Lines, please contact William Perritt […]
Chinese rare earth magnetic materials prices edged up this week after suppliers stood firm behind higher offer prices, market sources told Fastmarkets