World BFI Output Recorded Marginal Jump in October

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The blast furnace iron (BFI) output by world countries increased marginally during the month of October this year, says the latest monthly production statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The monthly output increased slightly by nearly 2% from 97.744 million tonnes (Mt) in September to 99.649 Mt in October this year. The combined BFI output during the initial ten-month period of 2017 totaled 988.747 Mt. The above figures are based on production data collected from 38 member countries which together accounted for nearly 99% of the world BFI output during 2016.

The countries from Asian region were the leading producers of blast furnace iron during the month. The production by the region totaled 77.707 Mt, accounting for nearly 78% of the global production. The regional production edged higher marginally when matched with the production of 76.750 Mt during September this year. China continued to be the leading BFI producer in the region with a total output of 60.015 Mt. The monthly output was up marginally when compared with the previous month output of 59.600 Mt. The other main producers in the region were Japan (6.571 Mt), India (5.751 Mt) and South Korea (4,120 Mt).

The North American BFI output totaled 2.795 Mt, increasing marginally from 2.691 Mt during the prior month. The US output increased slightly from 1.846 Mt to 1.920 Mt. The Canadian production totaled 490,000 tonnes, followed by Mexico with 385,000 tonnes. The cumulative BFI output by the North American countries during the initial ten months of 2017 totaled 27.748 Mt.

The EU-28 region recorded an output of 8.005 Mt during October this year, rising marginally when compared with the output of 7.504 Mt recorded during the month before that. The leading producers of the region were Germany (2.40 Mt), France (888,000 tonnes), the Netherlands (570,000 tonnes), Austria (562,000 tonnes), the UK (550,000 tonnes), and Poland (435,000 tonnes). The cumulative BFI production by the EU-28 countries during Jan-October ’17 totaled 78.162 Mt.

South America recorded marginal jump in blast furnace iron output in October this year. The production by the region totaled 2.766 Mt during the month. Brazil accounted for bulk of the production by the region. Brazil’s BFI output totaled 2.674 Mt, accounting for nearly 97% of the regional production during the month.

The CIS region’s BFI output totaled 6.380 Mt in October. Russia, with an output of 4.400 Mt, was the top regional producer. The combined output by the region totaled 62.386 Mt during the first ten months of 2017.

The BFI monthly output by the Oceania region totaled 359,000 tonnes, whereas the cumulative output during the first ten months of the year totaled 3.626 Mt.