Global steel production increases for September

Global steel production increases for September
<![CDATA[

The World Steel Association (Worldsteel) has reported global steel production of 132.9 million metric tons for this September, a 2 percent increase from figures the same time last year. The figures for the month pushed the global steel production over the first nine months of the year to 825.9 million metric tons, a 0.6 percent increase from the same time last year.

Worldsteel, based in Brussels, reports total steel production for 66 countries.

According to Worldsteel, the improvement for September was driven primarily by Asia (especially China), which saw crude steel production reach 92.579 million tons, a 3.7 percent improvement from last September.

China’s crude steel production for September 2016 was 68.2 million metric tons, a 3.9 percent increase from September 2015. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.4 million metric tons of crude steel in September 2016, a decrease of 1.5 percent compared to September 2015. South Korea’s crude steel production was 5.7 million metric tons for the month, up 1.1 percent from the previous September.

Several other regions of the world, far smaller steel producers, also realized an uptick in steel production for the month. These included European countries outside the European Union (most notably Turkey), which saw production jump by 9.4 percent; the Middle East, which saw its monthly steel production increase by 6.3 percent; and Africa, which saw global steel production increase by 2.4 percent.

Turkey’s crude steel production for September 2016 was 2.7 million metric tons, up by 8.1 percent from the prior September.

The strong improvement for this region more than offset the monthly decline in steel produced in the European Union, which saw steel production for September decline 1.7 percent; North America, dropping 4.7 percent; South America, down 4.2 percent; and C.I.S. countries, down 4.7 percent.

For September, U.S. steel production totaled 6.3 million, a decrease of 3.8 percent compared to September 2015.

For the first nine months of the year, Asia again led the way, with production standing at about 821 million metric tons. The only other region seeing an improvement over the first nine months of the year were the European countries outside the EU, which saw production increase by 4.3 percent to 26.462 million tons.

On the negative side, EU countries continued to struggle with steel production. For the first nine months, EU countries reported steel production of 121.262 million metric tons, a fairly steep 4.8 percent drop from the same time last year.

North America, including the United States, saw steel production over the first nine months drop 1.4 percent to 83.872 million metric tons; CIS countries, down 0.1 percent to 76.397 million metric tons; and South America, which saw steel production decline by 11.6 percent to 8.875 million metric tons.

The crude steel capacity utilization ratio of the 66 countries in September 2016 was 70 percent. It was 69.5 percent in September 2015. The September 2016 capacity utilization ratio is 1.5 percentage points higher than the August 2016 ratio.

Click here to see the monthly figures.

]]>
Source: Recycling Today
Global steel production increases for September
<![CDATA[The World Steel Association (Worldsteel) has reported global steel production of 132.9 million metric tons for this September, a 2 percent increase from figures the same time last year. The figures for the month pushed the global steel production over the first nine months of the year to 825.9 million metric tons, a 0.6 percent increase from the same time last year. Worldsteel, based in Brussels, reports total steel production for 66 countries. According to Worldsteel, the improvement for September was driven primarily by Asia (especially China), which saw crude steel production reach 92.579 million tons, a 3.7 percent improvement from last September. China’s crude steel production for September 2016 was 68.2 million metric tons, a 3.9 percent increase from September 2015. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.4 million metric tons of crude steel in September 2016, a decrease of 1.5 percent compared to September 2015. South Korea’s crude steel production was 5.7 million metric tons for the month, up 1.1 percent from the previous September. Several other regions of the world, far smaller steel producers, also realized an uptick in steel production for the month. These included European countries outside the European Union (most notably Turkey), which saw production…