Steel Mills

WSA: Global Steel Production Dips 7 Percent in June

July 28, 2020

World crude steel production declined by 7 percent in June, compared with the same month last year, to a total of approximately 148.3 million metric tons, reported the World Steel Association in Brussels.

For the first six months of 2020, global steel production totaled 873.1 million tons, down 6.0 percent year over year as steel demand all over the world suffers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United States produced 4.7 million metric tons of crude steel in June, a decrease of 34.5 percent compared with June 2019. For the first half of 2020, steel production in North America declined by 17.6 percent.

Less impacted by the virus was Asia, where steel production declined by just 3.0 percent in the first half of the year. In fact, in June, China produced 91.6 million tons, an increase of 4.5 percent over June 2019.

June crude steel production in other nations versus the prior year: India, 6.9 million tons, down 26.3 percent; Japan, 5.6 million tons, down 36.3 percent; South Korea, 5.1 million tons, down 14.3 percent; Germany, 2.5 million tons, down 27.3 percent; and Italy, 1.8 million tons, down 13.0. Production in Turkey increased by 4.1 percent in June to 2.8 million tons.