World Crude Steel Production Dropped 2.8%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The monthly production data published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) suggests decline in global crude steel output in October 2019. The production by 64 reporting countries registered year-on-year decline by 2.8% during the month. However, the Jan-Oct ’19 output stood higher by 3.2%, upon comparison with the corresponding ten-month period in 2018.

The monthly output and the cumulative output until Oct ’19 totalled 151.494 million tonnes (Mt) and 1.542 billion tonnes respectively. This compares with the output of 155.833 Mt and 1.494 billion tonnes in Oct ’18 and Jan-Oct ’18 respectively.

The Asian crude steel output declined by 1.3%, with all major producers in the region reporting reduced output over the year. The Chinese output was down marginally by 0.6%. The South American production witnessed nearly 17% drop, mainly driven by 19.4% decline in Brazil. The African output too was down by 16.6%, despite notable surge in Libyan output. The North American and CIS region recorded production declines by 2.2% and 1.4% respectively.

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Europe was no exception to global weakness in crude steel production. The region’s output tumbled by 8.7%. The Other European countries recorded sharper 14.8% cut in production over the previous year.

The Middle East and Oceania were the only regions to report higher output. The overall production by the Middle East region was up by 2.9%, despite sharp fall in Saudi Arabian output. The Oceania crude steel production surged higher by 10% in the month of October this year.