Middle East Countries Recorded 4% Surge in Crude Steel Production

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest monthly crude steel production statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) indicate notable jump in overall production by countries in the Middle East region during the month of July this year. This is upon comparison with the same month a year before.

According to data, the steel output by Middle East countries totalled 3.095 million tonnes (Mt) in July ’19. This compares with the production of 2.982 Mt in July last year. The regional production reported a jump by 3.8%.

Iran- the leading regional producer reported significant surge in output. The country’s output totalled around 2.200 Mt, higher by over 11%, when matched with the July ’18 output of 1.981 Mt. The second largest producer was Saudi Arabia, whose output witnessed a decline by 12.6% from 503,000 tonnes in July ’18 to 440,000 tonnes in the same month this year. The output by Qatar and the UAE totalled 230,000 tonnes and 225,000 tonnes respectively.

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The Middle East crude steel production totalled 21.407 Mt from January to July this year. Year-on-year, the production surged higher by 4.2% from 20.539 Mt in Jan-July ’18. Iran’s output grew 6.4% year-on-year from 14.091 Mt to 14.988 Mt. The country accounted for more than 70% of the total regional production. The other key crude steel producing countries along with their output are as follows: Saudi Arabia (3.023 Mt), the UAE (1.877 Mt) and Qatar (1.519 Mt).