Middle East crude steel output up 1% in Mar '15

ABU DHABI (Scrap Monster): According to most recent data published by the World Steel Association (World Steel), the crude steel production by the Middle East region increased by 1.0% during the month of March year-on-year.

The total crude steel production by Iran during March was 1.315 Million tonnes, declining by 1% in comparison with the March 2014 production of 1.329 Million tonnes. Qatar produced 229,000 tonnes of crude steel, considerably lower by 13.9% when compared to 266,000 tonnes production achieved during March 2014. Meantime, Saudi Arabia’s crude steel output surged over the year to 565,000 tonnes during March this year. The total crude steel production by the UAE during March was 260,000 tonnes, up 23.6% in comparison with the March 2014 production of 211,000 tonnes.

The cumulative crude steel output by the Middle East region during the initial three months of current year totaled 7.036 Million tonnes, 7.0% higher when compared with the output of 6.577 Million tonnes during the corresponding three-month period in 2014.

The following table provides cumulative crude steel output for the first three months in 2015 in comparison with those during same period in 2014.

  (Note: Output in thousands of tonnes)