Economy
WSA: World Steel Production Up 2.1 Percent in January
Written by Tim Triplett
February 27, 2020
World crude steel production totaled 154.4 million metric tons in January, a 2.1 percent increase compared to January 2019, reported the World Steel Association in Brussels.
China’s crude steel production for January totaled 84.3 million tons, an increase of 7.2 percent compared to January 2019. Steel output in February will be hurt by the COVID-19 virus, but the China Iron and Steel Association still forecasts a cumulative increase in steel production for January and February of around 2 percent.
The United States produced 7.7 million metric tons of crude steel in January, an increase of 2.5 percent compared to the prior-year period.
Other nations increasing crude steel output in January included: Turkey, up 17.3 percent to 3.0 million tons; and France, up 4.5 percent to 1.3 million tons. Brazil registered the biggest decline of 11.1 percent to 2.7 million tons, followed by South Korea, off by 5.8 million tons or 8.0 percent versus January 2019. Most of the other nations reporting to WSA saw single-digit decreases in the first month of the year.
Tim Triplett
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