North American steel production up 5.5%

Annual steel production in North America rose 5.5% in October this year over the same period last year, according to recent production statistics released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel). During the first ten months of this year, a 3.6% jump was recorded in the regional market.

North American steel production in October 2018 was 10.476 Mt (Mt). It should be noted that in the same month a year earlier, production in the region was only 9.934 million tons. The growth in regional production was mainly driven by the United States, whose monthly output rose significantly by 10.5%. During the month, production in the United States was 7.571 million tonnes. The second largest producer was Mexico, with production at 1.690 million tonnes. In third place was Canada, whose output was marked by a noticeable decrease of 14.6% over the previous year. In October 2018, production in Canada was 1.160 million tonnes.

Cumulative steel production in the North American region in the first ten months of 2018 was 100.217 million tonnes. In January-October 2007, the production volume amounted to only 96.715 million tons. The leading producers were the USA (71.744), Mexico (17.160) and Canada (10.799) million tonnes. The total production in the three countries accounted for almost 99.5% of the total regional production. The production of other countries in the region in January-October 18 is as follows: Guatemala (247,000 tons), Cuba (182,000 tons) and El Salvador (83,000 tons).