World steel production increased by 6.6%

World crude steel production in 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) amounted to 315.0 million tonnes in the first two months of this year. This is a 6.6% increase over production for the corresponding two-month period in 2020.

The largest regional steel producer during this period was the Asia and Oceania region, with a total production of around 230.8 million tonnes. The region accounted for more than 73% of total world production. Production in the region increased by 10.1% over the previous year. The second largest producer was the EU-27 bloc, whose annual production fell by 3.7% to 24.1 million tonnes. The third place was taken by North America with the smelting of 18.5 million tons. Production from the beginning of the year to the present has dropped sharply by 7.1% compared to January-February 2020.

In the CIS region, a slight decrease in production was recorded by 0.4% to 16.8 million tons. Smelting in South America, at 7.3 million tonnes, was up 6.6% year-on-year. Production in the Middle East was slightly up 0.4% to 6.8 million tonnes. Meanwhile, in African countries from January to February this year, production fell 6.9% to 2.4 million tons.

It should be noted that the 64 countries included in the list accounted for 98% of global crude steel production in 2020.