World steel production slumps in January

The most recent figures from the World Steel Association (Worldsteel), Brussels, shows January 2015 global crude steel production at 133 million metric tons, a 2.9 percent decline from the same time last year. The monthly figures include the 65 countries reporting production numbers to Worldsteel.

China, the largest crude steel producer in the world, produced 65.5 million metric tons of steel in January, a 4.7 percent drop from last January. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 9 million metric tons of crude steel for the month, a decrease of 4 percent compared to January 2014.

In the European Union, Germany produced 3.7 million metric tons of crude steel in January 2015, a 0.5 percent increase compared to January 2014. Italy produced 1.9 million metric tons of crude steel, down 11.3 percent from January 2014. France’s crude steel production was 1.3 million metric tons, a decrease of 10.6 percent compared to January 2014. Spain produced 1.3 million metric tons of crude steel, up 11.8 percent compared to January 2014.
Turkey’s crude steel production for January 2015 was 2.6 million metric tons, a steep decline of 10.4 percent from January 2014.

In January 2015, Russia produced 6.1 million metric tons of crude steel, up 6 percent over January 2014. Ukraine produced 1.9 million metric tons of crude steel, down 25.2 percent compared to the same month 2014.

In the Americas, the United States produced 7.4 million metric tons of crude steel in January 2015, an increase of 0.4 percent compared to January 2014.

Brazil’s crude steel production for January 2015 was 3 million metric tons, up by 7.7 percent on January 2014.
The crude steel capacity utilization ratio for the 65 countries in January 2015 was 72.5 percent, a 4.4 percent decline from last January and down 0.4 percent from the prior month.