Global steel output rises in March

The Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) says steel production in the 63 countries reporting to it was up by 1.7 percent in March of this year compared with March 2022.

In the first quarter of the year, output is closer to stable, with the world having produced just 0.1 percent less steel in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the first three months of last year

The 165.1 million metric tons produced this March represents a dramatic 15.9 percent increase from the prior month, when just 142.4 million metric tons of steel was made globally.

Nations with boosted output in March versus February include exported ferrous scrap destination India. In March, Indian steelmakers produced 11.4 million metric tons of steel, a 14 percent increase from the 10 million metric tons made in February.

Also ramping up production was Turkey, another major importer of ferrous scrap. In that country, which suffered devastating earthquakes in February, steel output rose 28.6 percent (from 2.1 million metric tons in February to 2.7 million metric tons in March).

While extra work days likely contributed to increased output in the United States, healthy demand also could have played a role in U.S. steel output growing by 11.7 percent in March compared with the prior month.

Whereas U.S. producers made 6 million metric tons of steel this February, they were able to churn out 6.7 million metric tons in March.

Year to date, output in most of the 10 largest steel-producing nations remains below the pace set in 2022, with India and China the two exceptions. (Iran had been listed earlier in the year as a nation with growing steel output, but it fell out of the top 10 in March.)

The improved March figures could help add to the optimism expressed in Worldsteel’s just released Short Range Outlook (SRO). In that analysis, which focuses on steel demand rather than production, Worldsteel predicts a 2.3 percent rebound in global steel demand this year followed by another 1.7 percent increase in 2024.