Middle East Crude Steel Production Reported 25% Surge

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The monthly crude steel production by the Middle East countries surged higher significantly by nearly 25% in December last year. This is with reference to the latest monthly crude steel production data released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

The regional output totalled 3.788 million tonnes (Mt) in Dec ‘19, substantially higher by 25.0% when matched with the output of 3.030 Mt in the same month a year before. The sharp rise in production in Iran was partially offset by output declines elsewhere in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Among countries in the region, Saudi Arabia recorded largest decline in crude steel production. The country’s output witnessed a decline by 12.3% over the previous year to total 410,000 tonnes in Dec ’19. The production had totalled around 468,000 tonnes in December 2018. On the contrary, Iran’s output surged higher by 40%, recording a year-on-year rise from 2.068 Mt to 2.895 Mt. Also, Qatar witnessed notable decline in output from 202,000 tonnes to 186,000 tonnes over the year. Meantime, the steel output by the UAE recorded marginal increase by 1.5% from 292,000 tonnes to 297,000 tonnes.

The Middle East production totalled 42.879 Mt in the whole of 2019, up by 20.5% on 2018.