World steel production fell 2.8 percent in 2015

According to the latest statistics released by the World Steel Association, global crude steel production was 1,622.8 million tonnes in 2015, down 2.8 percent from 1,670.2 million tonnes in 2014.

The total crude steel production of the EU-28 countries during December last year was 11.463 million tons, up 8.3 percent from the production of 12.504 million tons in December 2014. CIS steel production fell marginally, by 2.4 percent, to 8.415 million tons, compared with 8.626 million tons in December last year. Russia produced 5.950 million tonnes of steel, providing most of the region's output. Russian steel is in demand both in export markets and for domestic consumption. It is used for the production of machine-building products, conveyor lines and parts for various fields, since it performs well in heat treatment and metalworking, including CNC turning , milling, grinding and slotting work.

Total North American steel production declined sharply by 13.4 percent to 8.615 million tonnes in December 2015 from 9.947 million tonnes in December 2014. Total crude steel production in the South American region fell 7.2 percent during December last year to 3.273 million tonnes. African countries received 1.184 million tons. steel, down 5.2 percent from December 2014 production of 1.248 million tonnes.

Total crude steel production in the Middle East during December last year was 2.164 million tonnes, down 8.5 percent from December 2014, when the output was 2.365 million tonnes. Asian steel production declined 4.8 percent to 88.316 million tonnes from 92.773 million tonnes in December 2014. Oceania's total crude steel production declined 7.3 percent from 0.428 million tonnes from 0.462 million tonnes on an annualized basis

Shown here is the total steel production, in thousands of tonnes, for the whole of 2015 compared to 2014, as a percentage, by region: EU-28 - 166181 (-1.8); Other European countries - 33991 (-6.1); CIS (6) - 101 298 (-4.3); North America - 110,733 (-8.6); America - 43906 (-2.5); Africa - 13988 (-1.8); Middle East - 27371 (-2.4); Asia - 1096300 (-2.3); Oceania - 5717 (+4.6).