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
Fastmarkets has launched a Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) Phase 1 conditional offtake price assessment on Wednesday April 29.
Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on the pricing methodology for North America Graphic Paper as part of its annual methodology review process.
Fastmarkets has launched five core carbon principle (CCP) carbon credit price assessments, covering landfill gas and cookstove projects, on Tuesday April 28.
China’s emergence over the past two decades has reshaped global trade. What began as rapid export-led expansion in the early 2000s has evolved into a far more strategic model: one centered on control of intermediate goods, deep integration into global supply chains, and the creation of structural dependencies across industries and regions, according to Mexico’s former ambassador to China, Jorge Guajardo.
The US has stepped up calls for its allies to accept higher costs for sourcing critical minerals outside China, arguing that supply chain security must take precedence over price efficiency – a stance that is reshaping expectations across metals markets but has yet to translate into durable pricing support.
Fastmarkets has corrected its EN-BD-0032 Renewable diesel, del Los Angeles, $/gal assessment that was published incorrectly on Friday April 17 due to a reporter error.