World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) was nearly 92 million metric tons in March, increasing from a production figure of less than 85 million metric tons in February.
Compared to the pace of production of early 2008, however, the steelmaking pace remains much lower globally. The March 2009 figure is 23.5 percent lower than production for March 2008.
In the first quarter of 2009, world steel production has been calculated by Worldsteel at 264 million metric tons, a decrease of 22.8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008.
In the first three months of 2009 Asia’s steel production decreased 8.9 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008. North America, meanwhile, showed a 52.1 percent decline in this year’s first quarter vs. the first three months of 2009.
The 30 million metric tons of steel produced in the European Union (EU) in the first quarter of 2009 marks a 43.8 percent decrease compared to the same quarter of 2008.
China showed a slight increase of 1.4 percent while every other major steel producing nation showed a decrease in the first quarter of 2009, according to Brussels-based Worldsteel.
Comparing March 2009 figures to the month before, Turkey showed a rebound from 1.7 million tons of steel produced in February to 1.83 million tons produced in March. India was another nation demonstrating growth, moving from an estimated 4.1 million metric tons of steel produced in February to 4.5 million metric tons produced in March.
Production in the United States was essentially flat, moving from slightly less than 4 million metric tons produced in February to slightly more than 4 million metric tons produced in March.
For the month of March, the United States was the world’s fifth largest steelmaking nation, with China, Japan, Russia and India all producing more steel than the United States.