Steel production continues to grow in the Middle East

The sharp rise in crude steel production in the UAE helped the Middle East region post a further rise in production in June this year.

Crude steel production in the Middle East region rose 5.3 percent during June 2015 compared to the anthological period last year, according to the latest figures released by the World Steel Association. Steel production in the region was 2.463 million tonnes in June this year, up from 2.339 million tonnes of steel produced in the same month a year earlier.

Iran's total crude steel production in June 2015 was 1.428 Mt, up 1.5 percent from 1.408 Mt in June 2014. Qatar smelted 230,000 tons of crude steel during June of this year, significantly lower than the 256,000 tons of production achieved in June 2014. The fall was 10.2 percent.

Meanwhile, steel production in Saudi Arabia in June of this year rose significantly from the previous year to 540,000 tons. The total crude steel production in the UAE in June 2015 reached 265,000 tons, which is significantly higher than the production of 186,000 tons in June 2014. AEO steel production grew by 42.3 percent year-on-year

Cumulative steel production in the Middle East in the first six months of this year reached 14.274 million tonnes, up 2.9 percent from 13.868 million tonnes in the corresponding six-month period in 2014.

The cumulative volume of steel production in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014 amounted to: Iran 8372 thousand tons (an increase of 4.5 percent); Qatar 1.301 thousand tons (drop by 10.2 percent); Saudi Arabia 3118 thousand tons (an increase of 0.2 percent); UAE 1,483 thousand tons (an increase of 14.6 percent).