Key steel producers see ramped up output in January

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The monthly statistics released by the World Steel Association suggests significant rise in crude steel output by Asia, Africa and Middle East regions during the month of January this year. The output by the African region surged higher by 15.6% over the previous year. The production by the Middle East and Asian regions were up by 13.5% and 7.1% respectively, when matched with the previous year.

The total crude steel production by China during January this year was 67.200 Million tonnes, higher by 7.4% when compared with the production of 62.555 Mt during January 2016. India produced 8.400 Million tonnes of crude steel, considerably up by 12% when compared to 7.501 Million tonnes production achieved during Jan ‘16. Japan reported marginal increase of 2.7% in monthly crude steel output during January. Japan's crude steel output increased from 8.768 Million tonnes in Jan ’16 to 9.002 Million tonnes in same month this year. South Korean crude steel production edged higher marginally by 3.2%. Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand reported increase in production by 36.0%, 4.4% and 1.8% respectively. The crude steel output by Vietnam too increased by over 6% year-on-year in January.

The following table provides comparison of crude steel output in January this year and the output during the prior month.

Note: Output in thousands of tonnes

Egypt produced 535,000 tonnes of crude steel, rising significantly by 38.4% when compared to 387,000 tonnes production achieved during Jan ‘16. Libya’s crude steel output dropped to 50,000 tonnes during the month of January this year, when matched with 76,000 tonnes produced during the same month a year before. Morocco’s output soared higher by 131.6%. South African crude steel output increased marginally by 1.2% to total 533,000 tonnes during the month.

The following table provides comparison between the crude steel output during Jan ’16 and that during the month before.

Note: Output in thousands of tonnes 

The total crude steel production by Iran during January 2017 was 1.520 Million tonnes, considerably higher by 11.3% in comparison with the Jan ‘16 production of 1.365 Million tonnes. Qatar produced 247,000 tonnes of crude steel, significantly higher by 24.1% when compared to 199,000 tonnes production achieved during January 2016. Meantime, Saudi Arabia’s crude steel output increased sharply by 16% over the previous year. The total crude steel production by the UAE during Jan ’17 was 318,000 tonnes, higher by 12.9% in comparison with the Jan ’16 production of 281,000 tonnes. 

The following table provides month-on-month comparison of crude steel production by various countries in the Asian region.

  (Note: Output in thousands of tonnes)