Global steel output rises so far in 2024

World crude steel production for the 71 countries reporting to the Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) was 148.8 million metric tons in February, representing a 3.7 percent increase compared with February 2023, according to the organization.

The world’s mills have churned out 3 percent more steel year to date compared with the first two months of 2023, though the geographic increase of that output increase is not evenly distributed.

Turkey, India and Iran have posted dramatic increases in steel mill output so far this year. While Iran is not a factor in the United States’ ferrous scrap export landscape, the increases in Turkey and India should, in theory, be good news for scrap processors in the U.S.

However, recent reports do not portray sizable increases in scrap demand from those two nations. The lack of export demand has been one factor cited in downward pressure on ferrous scrap prices.

One possibility is electric arc furnace (EAF) melt shops in Turkey in India are not as busy melting imported scrap as they could be because downstream rolling mills in some places are instead acquiring Russian and Chinese billet that is not welcome in the European Union or North America and, thus, is available at a discount.

Mills in China, the world’s largest steel-producing nation, made 1.6 percent more steel in the first two months of this year compared with January and February 2023.

Joining China in the plus column are Turkey (34.6 percent); Iran (26.5 percent); India (10 percent); Brazil (6.4 percent); and Germany (4.6) percent. Closer to break-even are producers in Japan (up by 0.8 percent) and South Korea (up by 0.2 percent).

The only two nations among the 10 largest global producers with a reduction in output compared with last year are Russia (down 3.2 percent) and the United States (down 2.6 percent).