Crude Steel Output Slumped in North America

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The North American region reported marginal decline in crude steel output during the month of June this year. This is with reference to the latest statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

The regional output surged edged lower slightly by 0.2% upon comparison with the same month a year before. The output by the region totaled 9.874 million tonnes (Mt) in June this year, as against the output of 9.892 Mt in June ’18.

The U.S. continued to be the primary crude steel producer. The output by the country totaled 7.276 Mt during the month, accounting for almost 74% of the total regional production. The U.S. crude steel output surged higher by 3.1% over the previous year. The output had totaled only 7.057 Mt in June 2018.

All other major producing countries recorded year-on-year decline in output. The Mexican output totaled 1.580 Mt, significantly lower by 9.1% when matched with the output of 1.738 Mt in the same month a year before. Canada too reported sharp decline in output by 7.6% from 1.050 Mt to around 970,000 tonnes. The production by El Salvador and Guatemala increased by 11% and 6.6% respectively. On the other hand, Cuban output declined by more than 8% from June 2018.

The regional production was up marginally by 1.4% to total 60.129 Mt in the initial six-month period of 2019. This compares with 59.327 Mt of production during Jan-June ’18, worldsteel data said.