World steel production grew by 5.5% in December and by 0.8% in 2016

World crude steel production totaled 1,628.5 million tonnes in 2016, up 0.8% from 2015. Steel production declined in Europe, the Americas and Africa. Steel production increased in the CIS, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.

According to the latest statistics released by the World Steel Association, crude steel production in the 66 member countries was 134.059 million tonnes in December last year, up 5.5% from 127.018 million tonnes in the same month a year earlier.

Crude steel production in the Middle East region increased by more than 20% during December 2016 at an annual rate. The EU-28 recorded a 13.6% increase in crude steel production in December last year. Steel output of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) increased by 6.6% during the month. In addition, Oceania made a 19.6% jump in steel production.

Crude steel production in Asia increased 4.0% year-on-year during December 2016. China's total steel production in December reached 67.220 Mt, up 3.2% from 65.136 Mt in December 2015. India produced 8.397 million tonnes of crude steel, up 15% from 7.305 million tonnes achieved in December 2015. Japan reported a 1.5% increase in monthly steel production. Steel production in Japan rose from 8.585 million tonnes in December 2015 to 8.711 million tonnes in the same month last year. South Korea's crude steel production declined marginally by 0.2% from 5.870 million tonnes in December 2015 and 5.858 million tonnes in December.

South American steel production dropped significantly during December last year. Total monthly output fell 11.3% to 2.899 million tonnes. Brazil produced 2.149 million tonnes of steel, down 12.7% from December 2015.

Crude steel production in North America during December 2016 increased by 9.9% year-on-year. The issue amounted to 9.409 million tons during the month. The United States produced 6.619 million tonnes of steel, up 11.0% from December 2015.

Crude steel production in the African region jumped 9.6% during December on an annualized basis.