Global BFI Output Witnessed Notable Decline in February
The North American BFI output dropped marginally from 2.824 Mt in January to 2.625 Mt in February 2018.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The world blast furnace iron (BFI) output reported notable decline during the month of February this year.
According to the latest production statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), global BFI output has dropped by nearly 10% from the previous month to total 90.084 million tonnes (Mt) during the month. The global BFI output had totaled 99.745 Mt in the opening month of 2018. The above production figures are based on production data compiled from 38 member countries that accounted for approximately 98% of the world BFI output during 2016.
The Asian region was the single largest producer during the month, accounting for nearly 78% of the global production during the month. The regional production totaled 69.917 Mt. However, the region reported reduced output when compared with the previous year. The largest producers in the region were China (53.775 Mt), Japan (6.180 Mt), India (5.252 Mt) and South Korea (3.695 Mt).
The North American BFI output dropped marginally from 2.824 Mt in January to 2.625 Mt in February 2018. Nearly 69% of the regional production came from the US. The other key producers were Canada (475,000 tonnes) and Mexico (350,000 tonnes).The cumulative BFI output by the North American countries during the initial two-month period of the current year totaled 5.449 Mt. Meantime, South American blast furnace iron output too dropped by nearly 8% to 2.397 Mt.
The EU-28 region recorded an output of 7.436 Mt during February this year, falling by more than 10% month-on-month. The output by the CIS region countries totaled 5.805 Mt during tehmonth.The BFI monthly output by the Oceania region totaled 358,000 tonnes, whereas the combined output during the first two months of the year totaled 757,000 tonnes.