Middle East crude steel production up 4.6% in July 2015

Crude steel production in the Middle East increased by 4.6% year-on-year in July 2015, according to figures released by the World Steel Assn (Worldsteel) on Thursday August 20.

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The region’s output totalled 2.351 million tonnes in the month, compared with 2.247 million tonnes in the corresponding month in 2014.

Iran recorded the highest crude steel production in July, with 1.273 million tonnes, down by 1.3% from the 1.290 million tonnes produced in July last year.

Saudi Arabia produced 560,000 tonnes of crude steel in June, up by 7.3% from 522,000 tonnes in July 2014. The production figure included the output of state-owned producer Hadeed Sabic, Worldsteel said.

Production in the UAE totalled 283,000 tonnes in July, an increase of 71.3% on an annual basis from 165,000 tonnes in July 2014.

Qatar produced 235,000 tonnes of crude steel last month, a 13% decrease year-on-year from 270,000 tonnes, according to Worldsteel.

January-July
In the first seven months of 2015, Middle East crude steel output reached 16.626 million tonnes, up by 3.2% from 16.115 million tonnes in the same period in 2014.

Iran had the highest crude steel production in January-July, with 9.645 million tonnes, up by 3.7% from 9.305 million tonnes last year.

Saudi Arabia produced 3.678 million tonnes of crude steel over the period, a 1.2% increase from 2014’s 3.633 million tonnes.

Production in the UAE totalled 1.767 million tonnes in January-July, an increase of 21.1% from 1.459 million tonnes in 2014.

Qatar produced 1.537 million tonnes of crude steel in seven months, a 10.5% decrease year-on-year from 1.718 million tonnes.