Asia, Africa and the Middle East records substantial hike in steel output

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The most recent production statistics released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) indicates considerable rise in crude steel production by Asia, Africa and Middle East regions during the month of June 2017. The output by the Middle East region surged higher by 9.4% over the previous year. Africa and Middle East regions recorded year-on-year growth of 5.5% and 4.5% respectively.

Asia

China, the world’s leading producer continued to record increased steel output during the month, despite announcements and efforts by Chinese administration to curtail excess steel capacities. The Chinese output totaled 73.231 million tonnes (Mt), higher by 5.7% when matched with the output of 69.299 Mt in June last year. Vietnam reported highest jump in output over the year. The country’s production surged higher by 54% to 730,000 tonnes. The other countries to report growth in output were Pakistan (up 12%), Taiwan (up 5.6%) and Thailand (up 3.8%). On the other hand, Japanese output declined by 4.3% over the previous year. India’s output too dropped marginally by 1.1% when matched with the previous year.

The cumulative steel production during the initial half of 2017 by various countries is as follows:- China (419.7 Mt), Japan (52.3 Mt), India (49.5 Mt), South Korea (34.7 Mt), Taiwan (11.6 Mt), Vietnam (4.7 Mt), Pakistan (2.3 Mt) and Thailand (2.01 Mt).

Africa

The leading crude steel producer in the African region during the month was Egypt. Egypt’s steel production surged higher significantly by nearly 41% over the previous year to total 531,000 tonnes in June. However, the rise in output was almost offset by production declines in Libya and South Africa. The Libyan output has tumbled by nearly 43% year-on-year from 29,000 tonnes to 17,000 tonnes. Similarly, steel output by South Africa recorded 15.9% decline from the previous year. The output totaled 458,000 tonnes in June this year. Meantime, Moroccan steel output remained unchanged.

The combined steel output by Egypt during the first half of the year totaled 3.11 Mt. The output by South Africa totaled 3.08 Mt during this period. Meantime, output by Morocco and Libya totaled 280,000 tonnes and 210,000 tonnes respectively.

Middle East

The UAE crude steel output jumped higher by nearly 26% over the previous year to total 268,000 tonnes in June ’17. Iran and Qatar recorded 16.4% and 16.3% year-on-year rise in monthly crude steel output during the month. On the other hand, Saudi Arabian steel output declined sharply by 21%. The cumulative half-yearly crude steel production figures of various countries in the region are as follows:- Iran (9.95 Mt), Saudi Arabia (2.52 Mt), UAE (1.73 Mt) and Qatar (1.3 Mt).