Global steel production up 10% in March 2021

World crude steel production by the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) totaled 486.90 million tonnes (Mt) in the first three months of this year. This is a 10% increase over production for the corresponding three-month period in 2020.

The largest regional steel producer during this period was the Asia and Oceania region, with a total production of about 356.9 million tonnes. The region accounted for more than 73% of total world production. Production in the region increased by 13.2% over the previous year. The second largest producer was the EU-27 bloc, whose production increased by 3.1% year-on-year to 37.8 million tonnes. North America was in third place with smelting of 28.1 million tons. From the beginning of the year to the beginning of the year, production fell sharply by 5.2% from January to March 2020.

In the CIS region, a slight increase in production was recorded by 3.10% to 26.2 million tons. South America's production of 10.9 million tonnes was up 7.1% from the previous year. Smelting in the Middle East was slightly up 3.2% to 10.5 million tonnes. Meanwhile, in January-March 21, African countries recorded an increase in production by 3.4% to 3.9 million tons.

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