Economy
WSA: Global Steel Production Fell in January on Cutbacks in China
Written by David Schollaert
February 22, 2022
Global crude steel production was estimated at 155 million metric tons in January as steelmakers around the world cut output by 6.7 million metric tons, or 2.3%, from the prior month, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) reported.
Since reaching an all-time high of 174.4 million metric tons last May, global steel output has waned in six of the last eight months, driven largely by Chinese cutbacks. Chinese steel production was down 4.5 million metric tons, or 5.2%, last month versus December. Output in the rest of the world rose 1.1% to 800,000 metric tons, worldsteel said.
Steel production worldwide was down 6.7 million metric tons, or 4.8%, last month when compared to January 2021 but up 2.8%, or 3.7 million metric tons, when compared to the pre-pandemic period in January 2020.
Chinese steel output accounted for 52.7% of worldwide production in January, edging down 1.6 percentage points month-on-month.
Seven out of the top 10 global steel-producing countries saw production gains or were unchanged month-on-month in January. China, Japan, and Turkey reported declines in monthly output. Brazil reported the largest percentage increase, up 11.5%, or 300,000 tons more than December, for a total of 2.9 million tons. India saw the largest total gain in tons, up 400,000 metric tons or 3.8%. U.S. production grew by 1.4% in January, up 100,000 tons to a sum of 7.3 million tons versus the prior month, worldsteel reported.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
David Schollaert
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