Crude Steel Production On The Rise Across All Regions

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The monthly crude steel production statistics released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) indicates further rise in crude steel output by all regions across the world in November 2017. The combined crude steel output by the 66 countries reporting to the Association was up by 3.7% over the previous year. The output surged higher from 131.458 million tonnes (Mt) in November 2016 to 136.280 Mt in November this year. The Chinese steel output too recorded increase during the month.

South America

The South American region reported record jump in steel output in November over the previous year. The regional output surged higher significantly by 12.7% from 3.401 Mt in November last year to 3.834 Mt in November 2017. This is despite sharp fall in output in Venezuela, Uruguay and Ecuador. The Venezuelan output fell 74% over the previous year. On the other hand, Paraguay reported 64.4% surge in output. Also, the major regional producers- Brazil and Argentina saw 15.3% and 20.9% rise in steel production during the month.

North America

The output by the North American region surged higher by nearly 9% during the month. The production totaled 9.679 Mt during the month, as compared with 8.886 Mt during November 2016. The Canadian output increased by almost one-third to total 1.315 Mt. The US too produced 8.5% more crude steel during the month. On the other hand, Cuba, Guatemala and Mexico recorded marginal decline in production.

Asia

The Asian crude steel output growth almost halved to 2.8% during the month. The Chinese output was still up by 2.2% to total 66.151 Mt. Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand reported notable increase in production volumes. Vietnam’s production skyrocketed by nearly 70%. South Korea was the only country in the region to witness reduced output over the previous year. The combined monthly output by the Asian countries totaled 92.388 Mt.

Africa

The African region produced 1.187 Mt, a jump of nearly 22% over the previous year. All major producing countries raised their level of production in November 2017. Egypt led the pack with 37% jump in production volumes. The Libyan and South African crude steel output too was up by 13% and 10% over November 2016.

Other Regions

Among other regions, the output by the Middle East region increased by 6.2% year-on-year. EU-28 countries too raised production by 3.2% during November this year. CIS region’s production climbed higher by nearly 3.6%. The CIS region’s output increased marginally by 0.8%. Also a 4.8% jump in output was witnessed in Oceania region, worldsteel report said.