Middle East Crude Steel Output Surged 4%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The monthly crude steel production by the Middle East countries surged higher significantly by nearly 4% in August this year. This is with reference to the latest monthly crude steel production data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

The regional output totalled 3.155 million tonnes (Mt) in Aug ‘19, edging higher by 3.9% when matched with the output of 3.036 Mt in the same month a year before. The rise in production in Saudi Arabia was partially offset by output declines elsewhere in Iran, Qatar and the UAE.

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Saudi Arabia recorded huge drop in crude steel production. The country’s output witnessed a decline by 8.8% over the previous year to total 440,000 tonnes in August this year. The production had totalled around 483,000 tonnes in August 2018. On the contrary, Iran’s output surged higher by 6.7%, recording a year-on-year rise from 2.062 Mt to 2.200 Mt. Meantime, Qatar witnessed marginal jump in output from 226,000 tonnes to 229,000 tonnes over the year. The steel output by the UAE too recorded an increase by 7.9% from 265,000 tonnes to 286,000 tonnes.

The regional steel production from January to August in 2019 totalled 24.561 Mt. This compares with 23.575 Mt produced during the corresponding eight-month period last year. Iran continued to be the leading producer in the region with an output of 17.188 Mt, followed by Saudi Arabia with 3.463 Mt. The output by the UAE and Qatar totalled 2.163 Mt and 1.747 Mt respectively.