Crude Steel Production by African Countries Dipped 15%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The African crude steel production recorded notable decline during the month of August this year. The regional output during the initial eight months of the current year too ended marginally lower when compared with the corresponding period last year.

The monthly crude steel production data published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) indicates that African production totalled 990,000 tonnes (t), falling significantly by 14.6% from the previous year. The region had reported a total production of 1.159 Mt in August 2018.

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The production declines in Egypt and South Africa outclassed the strong production growth reported by Libya during the month. Egypt continued to remain as the largest steel producer in the region, producing 525,000 tonnes of crude steel. The country accounted for more than 53% of the total regional production. The country’s monthly steel output reported 13.3% year-on-year decline. The second largest producer- South Africa reported 17.8% yearly decline from 528,000 tonnes to 434,000 tonnes. Meantime, Libyan output surged higher by over 19% to total 31,000 t during the month.

The cumulative steel output by the African countries dring the initial eight months of the year totalled 9.544 Mt, down marginally by 0.4% upon comparison with the output of 9.577 Mt during Jan-Aug ’18. The cumulative output by Egypt, South Africa and Libya totalled 5.148 Mt, 4.032 Mt and 364,000t respectively.

The global crude steel production had surged higher by 3.4% to total 156.038 Mt in August this year.