Middle East crude steel production falls in August

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 dropped by 3.9% during the month of August ’15 year-on-year. The region’s crude steel output totaled 2.161 Million tonnes during August this year, as compared with 2.250 Million tonnes during the same month a year before.

The total crude steel production by Iran during August was 1.249 Million tonnes, considerably down by 6.2% in comparison with the August 2014 production of 1.332 Million tonnes. Qatar produced 224,000 tonnes of crude steel, sharply lower by 17% when compared to 270,000 tonnes production achieved during August 2014. Meantime, Saudi Arabia’s crude steel output edged lower over the previous year to 498,000 tonnes during August this year. The total crude steel production by the UAE during August was 190,000 tonnes, significantly higher by 81.7% in comparison with the August 2014 production of 104,000 tonnes.

The cumulative crude steel output by the Middle East region during the initial eight months of current year totaled 18.697 Million tonnes, marginally higher by 1.8% when compared with the output of 18.365 Million tonnes during the corresponding eight-month period in 2014.

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

  (Note: Output in thousands of tonnes)