Middle East Countries' Steel Output Surged

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster):  The crude steel production by Middle East countries recorded modest surge in the month of December last year. Also, the output reported marginal increase during the full-year 2020.

The production data published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) indicates that the regional production totalled 3.465 million tonnes (Mt) in December 2020. The output was up by 2.8% from the year ago month. The region had produced 3.371 Mt of crude steel in December 2019.

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All countries in the region except Iran posted year-on-year dip in monthly output. Iran’s crude steel production totalled 2.660 Mt, higher by 19.6% from the corresponding month a year before. Qatar recorded the largest year-on-year decline of 54.3% during the month. The country’s output dropped from 186,000 tonnes to 85,000 tonnes. The Saudi Arabian output totalled 440,000 tonnes, down by almost 34% year-on-year. The production by the UAE dropped by approximately 6% from 297,000 tonnes in December 2019 to 280,000 tonnes in the same month last year.

The regional production, at 40.745 Mt in 2020, registered marginal increase by 2.7%, when matched with the output of 39.685 Mt in 2019. The topmost producers in the region were Iran (29.030 Mt), Saudi Arabia (7.775 Mt) and the UAE (2.722 Mt).