World Crude Steel Production Surged 3.4% in 2019
All major producing countries in the EU region including Germany, Italy, France and Spain produced less crude steel compared to 2018.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The global crude steel output totalled 1.87 billion tonnes in 2019, significantly higher by 3.4% compared to 2018. The yearly output recorded decline in all regions across the world except in Asia and the Middle East, said the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
The Asian crude steel production surged higher by 5.7% over the previous year to total 1,341.6 Mt during the previous year. The Chinese crude steel production reached 996.3 Mt, up by 8.3% year-on-year. The Chinese share of global production increased from 50.9% in 2018 to 53.3% in 2019. The Indian crude steel production edged higher by 1.8%, whereas Japan and South Korea reported production declines by 4.8% and 1.4% respectively.
The production by the EU countries registered year-on-year decline by 4.9% to total 159.4 Mt. All major producing countries including Germany, Italy, France and Spain produced less crude steel compared to 2018.
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The annual production by North American countries was marginally lower at 120.0 Mt in 2019. The U.S. crude steel production was up by 1.5%. Meantime, South American output witnessed a decline of 8.4% to 41.2 Mt in 2019.
The CIS region’s production was 100.4 Mt, down marginally by 0.5% on 2018. African production dropped by 2.3% to 17.0 Mt. Also, Oceania output in 2019, at 6.1 Mt, was down by 2.9% from the prior year.