Global steel output sinks in November

Steel mill furnaces around the world produced 140.1 million metric tons (mmt) of crude steel this November, according to the Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) and the 70 national organizations that report to it.

That figure represents a 2.2 decrease compared with the 143,3 mmt made the prior month and a 4.5 percent decrease compared with the 145.6 mmt produced in November 2024.

Contributing to the global decline was shrinking output in the People’s Republic of China. In that nation—the world’s largest producer—the 69.9 mmt produced this November represents a 2.9 percent decline compared with the previous month’s total of 72.0 mmt and an even larger 10.8 percent drop compared with the 78.4 mmt made in November 2024.

Throughout the decade, steelmakers in other nations and organizations representing them have been requesting the largely state-affiliated blast furnace steel producers in China reduce their output and capacity rather than exporting consistently high volumes of steel.

While the November Worldsteel figure could offer some hope on that front, a recent LinkedIn post from Atilla Widnell of Singapore-based Navigate Commodities calls into question the timeliness (and thus, potentially, the accuracy) of Chinese blast furnace-based steelmaking data.

In his post, Widnell said Navigate’s blast furnace heat mapping pointed to increased steelmaking in China in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared with the third quarter, which runs contrary to figures distributed by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and as those provided to Worldsteel. Widnelll added this pattern also has been observable in previous years.

Regarding November 2025 steel output in other nations, India’s steel sector notched a slight increase last month, producing 13.7 mmt compared with 13.6 mmt in October. The nation’s output last month increased 10,5 percent compared with the 12.4 mmt made in November of 2025.

The health of that nation’s steel sector is good news for recycled steel exporters in the United States and Europe, as is the steady growth seen in Turkish steelmaking. Turkey’s mills produced 3.3 mmt of steel this November, up from 3.2 mmt in October and an increase from the 3.0 mmt made in November 2024.

In the U.S., mills in November produced 6.8 mmt of steel, representing a 2.8 percent decline from the 7.0 mmt made in October, according to Worldsteel. However, the November 2025 U.S. output is up by 6.2 percent compared with the 6.4 mmt made one year earlier.