Crude steel production up for first half of 2019

World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to World Steel Association (worldsteel), Brussels, was 159 million metric tons in June 2019, a 4.6 percent increase compared with June 2018. World crude steel production was at 925.1 million metric tons in the first six months of 2019, up by about 4.9 percent compared with the same period in 2019, worldsteel reports. 

The following is worldsteel’s breakdown for crude steel production by region in the first half of 2019:

• Asia produced about 660.2 million metric tons of crude steel, an increase of 7.4 percent over the first half of 2018. 
• The European Union (EU) produced about 84.7 million metric tons of crude steel in the first half of 2019, down by 2.5 percent compared with the same period in 2018. 
• North America’s crude steel production for the first six months of 2019 was 60.1 million metric tons, an increase of 1.4 percent compared with the first half of 2018. 
• The Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.) produced 50.5 million metric tons of crude steel in the first six months of 2019, which is the same as in the first six months of 2018.

In addition, China’s crude steel production for June 2019 was 87.5 million metric tons, an increase of 10 percent compared with June 2018. India produced 9.3 million metric tons of crude steel in June 2019, an increase of 4 percent compared with June 2018. Japan produced 8.8 million metric tons of crude steel in June 2019, down about 0.4 percent compared with June 2018. South Korea’s crude steel production was 6 million metric tons in June 2019, a decrease of 2.6 percent compared with June 2018. 

In the EU, Germany produced 3.4 million metric tons of crude steel, down by 5.8 percent compared with June 2018. Italy produced 2.1 million metric tons of crude steel, down by 2.5 percent compared with June 2018. France produced 1.3 million metric tons of crude steel, which is an increase of 3.4 percent compared to June 2018. Spain produced 1.2 million metric tons of crude steel, up by 2.3 percent on June 2018.

Additionally, worldsteel reports that the U.S. produced 7.3 million metric tons of crude steel in June 2019, an increase of 3.1 percent compared with June 2018. Brazil’s crude steel production for June 2019 was 2.8 million metric tons, down by 3.1 percent on June 2018. Turkey’s crude steel production for June 2019 was 2.7 million metric tons, down by about 11 percent on June 2018. Finally, crude steel production in Ukraine was 1.7 million metric tons this month, down 3 percent on June 2018.