World steel production rose 3.2% in June; Half-yearly output up by 4.5%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): According to the latest monthly production statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), the crude steel output by 67 member countries totaled 141.046 million tonnes (Mt) in June 2017, 3.2% higher when matched with the production of 136.633 Mt recorded during the same month a year before.

The capacity utilization rate of member countries in June this year was 73.0%. This was higher by 1.3% than May 2017. Also, the rate was 1.4% higher than June last year.

South America

The crude steel production by South American countries has increased by 3.4% in June this year. The monthly output totaled 3.412 Mt. Venezuela recorded the sharpest rise in output. The country’s crude steel production recorded 72% jump to total 45,000 tonnes. Brazil recorded 4% year-on-year rise in output. Peru and Chile were the other countries to report output jump. On the other hand, Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia recorded sharp decline in production

North America

The crude steel production by North American countries has declined by 2.4% during the month. The production totaled 9.412 Mt during the month, as compared with 9.644 Mt during June last year. The US crude steel output dropped by 1.7% to 6.707 Mt. Larger decline in output was recorded by Cuba and Canada. Mexican output increased marginally by 1% year-on-year to total 1.685 Mt.

Asia

The Asian crude steel output surged higher by 4.5% during the month. The output by the world’s top steel producer China posted 5.7% growth in production over the year. The country’s output totaled 73.231 Mt. The second largest producing nation in the region was Japan, whose output declined by 4.3%. In third place was India with production of 7.950 Mt, slightly lower by 1.1% when compared with the same month a year before. Vietnam and Pakistan reported rise in production volume. The production by South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan too increased during the month.

Africa

The crude steel production by the African region registered 5.5% jump during the month of June year-on-year. The Egyptian production soared by nearly 41%. However, this was largely offset by production declines in Libya and South Africa. The Libyan output plunged nearly 43%, whereas the South African production declined by 16% over the previous year.

Other regions

Among other regions, the output by the Middle East region registered notable jump of 9.4% year-on-year. EU-28 countries too produced 3.9% more steel during June 2017 in comparison with June last year. CIS region’s production tumbled by nearly 8%. The production by the Oceania region recorded sharpest decline of 13.2%.

Half-yearly output

The cumulative steel output during the first half of the current year totaled 836.026 Mt, up by 4.5% over the previous year. The output during Jan-June in 2016 had totaled 799.987 Mt.