Global BFI Output Hit an Elevated Level in 2017

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The full year 2017 production statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) indicates marginal rise in blast furnace iron (BFI) output during the year, when compared with the year before. The global BFI output rebounded to close just over 1% higher in 2017. The output climbed higher from 1.162 billion tonnes in 2016 to 1.175 billion tonnes in 2017.

The monthly output in Dec ’17 too edged higher marginally over the previous month. The production totaled 93.890 million tonnes (Mt) during the last month of 2017. Out of this, Asian region produced 71.983 Mt, representing nearly 77% of the total global BFI output. China, the largest producer, accounted for bulk of the production by the Asian region, producing 54.723 Mt. The other leading Asian BFI producing countries were Japan (6.579 Mt), India (5.710 Mt) and South Korea (3.721 Mt).

The EU-28 region recorded an output of 7.959 Mt in December 2017, higher from the output of 7.520 Mt recorded during the prior month. The key producing country was Germany, whose output totaled 2.405 Mt. The full-year 2017 BFI production by the EU-28 countries totaled 93.868 Mt. Other European countries including Boznia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Turkey reported monthly and cumulative output of 1.144 Mt and 12.683 Mt respectively.

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The CIS region reported BFI production totaling 6.445 Mt during the month. The output registered marginal jump when matched with the previous month output of 6.310 Mt. The leading BFI producer during the month was Russia with 4.320 Mt. The other key producers were Ukraine (1.800 Mt) and Kazakhstan (325,000 tonnes). The yearly production by the CIS region totaled 75.980 Mt.

The North American BFI output increased marginally from 2.656 Mt in Nov ‘17 to 2.700 Mt in Dec ‘17. The output by the US totaled 1.780 Mt during the month. The country’s production during the entire year 2017 totaled 22.335 Mt. The entire North American region produced 32.915 Mt of BFI during the previous year.

Meantime, the blast furnace iron production by South America dropped slightly over the previous month to total 2.685 Mt in Dec ’17. Oceania region reported increased BFI production during the month.

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