Global steelmakers start off 2025 at slower pace

The Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) is reporting steel output in its 69 member nations dropped by 4.4 percent this January compared with production in January 2024.

According to Worldsteel, global crude steel production checked in at 151.4 million metric tons (mmt) in January, a 4.4 percent decrease compared with the 148.1 mmt of output last January.

Production increased year on year in only 1 of its 8 geographic regions: Russia, Ukraine and the rest of the former Soviet Union, where steel output this January rose by 1.4 percent compared with last year.

The sharpest drop in output was in the Middle East, where steel production fell by 15.3 percent this January. Production also declined significantly in South America, with output off by 9.8 percent.

Among the 10 largest steel-producing nations, only two have seen a rise in output so far this year: India, up by 6.8 percent, and the United States, up by 1.2 percent. Russia was nearly at break even with a 0.6 percent decline.

The sharpest reduction in output took place in Iran, where 24.1 percent less steel was made this January compared with January 2024.

Nations in East Asia also struggled to keep their furnaces productive, with South Korea’s output down by 8.8 percent and Japan’s by 6.6 percent. China—the world’s largest steel-producing nation—saw its output decline by 5.6 percent this January.

Providing good news for U.S. generators and processors of recovered steel (and a boost to the value of that commodity) is that its three leading scrap destinations represented 3 of the 4 best performing mill environments this January.

The domestic market—by far the biggest one for U.S. ferrous scrap—increased its output by 1.2 percent, while India’s production rose by 6.8 percent. Although Turkey’s output declined this January, it’s 1.4 percent drop was smaller than those experienced in East Asia, Germany or Iran.