Worldsteel: Global BFI output declined 2.6% in Sep ‘16

ALBANY (Scrap Monster): The monthly statistics released by the World Steel Association indicate that blast furnace iron production by world countries dropped by 2.6% during September this year. The production totaled 96.852 million tonnes (Mt) during the month, as compared with the production of 99.443 Mt during August this year. The cumulative BFI output during the initial nine months of the current year totaled 872.266 Mt. It must be noted that the above information is based on the output recorded by 39 countries, which accounted for 99% of the world BFI production during the entire year 2015.

The BFI output by the Asian region totaled 76.188 Mt during the month, accounting for nearly 79% of the total world output. The output during the month dropped when matched with the output of 78.035 Mt during August ’16. The leading Asian BFI producers during September this year were China (59.320 Mt), Japan (6.428 Mt), India (5.170 Mt) and South Korea (4.070 Mt). The cumulative production by Asian region totaled 680.875 Mt during the initial nine-month period of the current year.

The 28 countries of the European Union recorded an output of 7.293 Mt during September this year, down considerably when matched with the output of 7.651 Mt output reported during the prior month. The top producers of the region were Germany (2.130 Mt), France (869,000 tonnes), the U.K (488,000 tonnes) and the Netherlands (483,000 tonnes). The nine-month cumulative BFI production by the EU-28 countries totaled 68.726 Mt. Other European countries including Boznia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Turkey reported monthly and cumulative output of 1.027 Mt and 9.119 Mt respectively.

The CIS region reported BFI production totaling 6.510 Mt during the month. The output declined modestly when matched with the previous month output of 6.643 Mt. The leading BFI producer during the month was Russia with 4.260 Mt. The other key producers were Ukraine (1.940 Mt) and Kazakhstan (310,000 tonnes). The Jan-Sep ’16 production by the CIS region totaled 59.410 Mt.

The North American BFI output dropped marginally from 2.713 Mt in August ’16 to 2.580 Mt in September ’16. The output by the US totaled 1.750 Mt, constituting nearly 68% of the total production by the region. The US production has dropped significantly by nearly 6% from 1.859 Mt in August to 1.750 Mt in September. The other key BFI producing nations were Canada (470,000 tonnes) and Mexico (360,000 tonnes). The regional output during Jan-September ’16 totaled 25.098 Mt. The cumulative output by the US during the first nine months of the year totaled 17.182 Mt. The output by Canada and Mexico totaled 4.723 Mt and 3.193 Mt respectively.

Meantime, the blast furnace iron production by South America reduced marginally over the previous month to total 2.371 Mt in Sep ‘16. Among the countries in the region, Brazil produced 2.130 Mt during the month. The output by Brazil had totaled 2.189 Mt during the month prior to this. The other key BFI producers during the month were Argentina (162,000 tonnes), Chile (55,000 tonnes), Colombia (20,000 tonnes) and Paraguay (5,000 tonnes). The South American output during the first nine months of the year 2016 totaled 20.848 Mt.

Oceania region reported higher BFI production during September this year. The production totaled 386,000 tonnes, up marginally when compared with the production of 366,000 tonnes during August this year. The output by Australia recorded marginal increase from 304,000 tonnes in August to 333,000 tonnes in September. On the other hand, New Zealand’s output declined from 63,000 tonnes to 54,000 tonnes over the previous month. The cumulative output during the initial nine-month period of the year by the region totaled 3.185 Mt.