World Crude Steel Output Surged 4.6% in First Half of 2018

The Asian region accounted for more than 70% of the global steel production during the month.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The crude steel output by the world countries is on the rise, says the most recent production data published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The June ’18 production surged higher by 5.8% over the previous year, after reporting 7% year-on-year surge in May '18. The cumulative production during the first six months of the year recorded 4.6% increase over the first half of 2017. The capacity utilization ratio hit the highest level in six months at 78.5% in June this year. This is 3.8 percentage points higher when compared with June 2017. Interestingly Chinese steel production peaked during the month.

The output totaled 151.379 million tonnes (Mt) in June 2018, up by 5.8% when compared with the same month a year before. The steel production by world countries had totaled only 143.096 Mt in June 2017. The half-yearly crude steel output totaled 881.455 Mt in 2018, higher by 4.6% when compared with the output of 842.360 Mt in Jan-June ’17.

The Asian region accounted for more than 70% of the global steel production during the month. The regional output totaled 107.378 Mt, with China continuing to lead the production surge, registering 7.5% jump over the year. The African crude steel production too was up sharply by 14.2% when matched with June last year. The Middle East production surged higher by 14.3%, worldsteel data said.

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The only regions to report drop in production was South America and North America, whose production decline marginally by 0.4% and 0.9% respectively. The Canadian output dropped significantly by over 12%. Meantime, the U.S production managed to end in green, rising from the previous year.

The steel output by EU-28 countries was up by 1.3%. Germany, the largest producer in the region, reported 4.6% jump in monthly output. The output by other European countries was up marginally by 2.4%.

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