Global steel production up 0.6% year-on-year, Worldsteel reports

Worldwide production of crude steel rose by 0.6% year-on-year in February to 125 million tonnes, data released by the World Steel Assn (Worldsteel) on Thursday March 20 showed.

Paragraph entered by Atlantic migration, in order for SteelFirst articles to display correctly on Metal Bulletin.

This compared with 124.3 million tonnes in the corresponding month in 2013, the group added.

China, the biggest producer globally, increased its output by 0.4% year-on-year to 62.1 million tonnes, while Japan’s output went up by 1.4% to 8.4 million tonnes.

South Korean crude steel output was also up by 6.2% year-on-year to 5.3 million tonnes, compared with 4.98 million tonnes in February 2013, but production in India fell by 3.2% year-on-year to 6.28 million tonnes.

In Europe, total crude steel production was up by 4.7% during the month to 13.88 million tonnes, with output by the largest producer nation, Germany, up by 4.2% year-on-year to 3.56 million tonnes.

Italy reported a 3.6% year-on-year rise in steel production to 2.2 million tonnes, while in Spain production was up by 10.2% to 1.19 million tonnes.

French crude steel production, however, fell by 3.9% year-on-year to 1.29 million tonnes in February this year.

In Turkey, crude steel output for the year amounted to 2.67 million tonnes, a 0.7% year-on-year rise.

In South America, although overall production fell by 2.6% year-on-year, crude steel output in Brazil was up by 1.2% to 2.61 million tonnes.

North American steel output was down by 2.7% year-on-year, with the USA showing a 1.7% decrease compared with February 2013 to 6.69 million tonnes.

Russia produced 5.34 million tonnes of crude steel last month, a 3.1% year-on-year reduction.

Within the CIS region, Ukraine’s output saw a sharp 10.7% drop in February to 2.35 million tonnes.

The biggest producer in the Middle East-North Africa region, Iran, saw an increase of 5.1% in output, to 1.26 million tonnes.

Capacity utilisation for the 65 countries that are members of Worldsteel increased to 77.6% in February 2014, up by 0.7% from January 2014.

What to read next
The MB-AL-0408 aluminium low-carbon differential P1020A, cif Mexico was published at 3:02pm London time on May 20 instead of the scheduled time of 3-4pm on May 27. The erroneous price has been removed from Fastmarkets’ pricing database. The price will next be published on May 27 at its usual time. This price is a part of the Fastmarkets […]
The US trade roller coaster ride seems to be flattening, with signs of potential moderation and stability. It appears increasingly likely that our original expectation that the US Trump administration would primarily use the threat of tariffs as a negotiating strategy will be correct. While we do not expect to the US tariff position return to pre-2025 levels, we believe the overall US tariff burden is more likely to settle at around 10-30% globally rather than the elevated rates of 50-100% that seemed possible in recent weeks.
To increase transparency, Fastmarkets has further clarified how it handles price movements during periods of low liquidity. Factors that Fastmarkets may consider during times of low liquidity include, but are not limited to: market fundamentals such as changes in inventory levels, shipments, operating rates and export volumes; relative fundamentals of similar commodities in the same […]
The publication of the following price was delayed for 10 minutes: MB-ALU-0002 Alumina index, fob Australia, $/tonne This price is a part of the Fastmarkets Base Metals package. For more information or to provide feedback on the delayed publication of this price or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter […]
China has launched a coordinated crackdown on the illegal export of strategic minerals under export control, such as antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten and rare earths, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday May 9.
MB-STE-0926 Green steel, differential to steel reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, delivered Northern Europe, €/tonne was initially incorrectly input within the range of €30-40 per tonne. The correct differential is €20-40 per tonne. MB-STE-0925 Green steel base price, reinforcing bar (rebar) domestic, delivered Northern Europe, inferred, €/tonne was incorrectly input at €685-720 per tonne. The correct inferred price is €675-720 […]