China Steers Asian Crude Steel Output Surge

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The steel production statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) suggests over 4% surge in output by Asian region during the initial month of 2020.

The production surge was mainly led by China, Japan, Pakistan and Thailand. On the other hand, India, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam reported reduced output when compared with January last year.

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The Asian crude steel production totalled 111.409 million tonnes (Mt) in January 2020, higher by 4.2% when compared with the production of 106.909 Mt in the same month a year before. The Chinese crude steel output totalled 84.269 Mt, recording a surge of 7.2% over the previous year. The country accounted for nearly 76% of the total regional production. India continued to remain as the second largest producer in the region, with an output totalling 9.288 Mt, slightly lower by 3.2% year-on-year. In third place was Japan with output of 8.244 Mt.

Among all countries in the region, Taiwan and Vietnam reported notable year-on-year decline in steel production. Taiwan saw its output fall by 14.6%, whereas Vietnam recorded 12.4% decline.