Economy
WSA: Global Steel Production Sank Further in February
Written by David Schollaert
March 29, 2022
Global crude steel production was estimated at 142.7 million metric tons in February as steelmakers around the world cut output by 12.3 million metric tons, or 7.9%, 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 seven of the last nine months, driven largely by Chinese cutbacks. Chinese steel production was down 6.7 million metric tons, or 8.2%, last month versus January. Output in the rest of the world also fell month on month in February by 7.6%, or 67.7 million metric tons, worldsteel said.
Steel production worldwide was down 7.6 million metric tons, or 5.0%, last month when compared to February 2021 and down 1.2%, or 1.7 million metric tons, when compared to the pre-pandemic period in February 2020.
Chinese steel output accounted for 52.6% of worldwide production in February, a marginal 0.1 percentage point decline month-on-month.
Each of the top 10 global steel-producing countries saw production declines month-on-month in February. South Korea reported the largest percentage fall, declining 13.3%, or 800,000 tons less than January, for a total of 5.2 million tons. Second, was the US, down 12.3% or 900,000 tons monthly in February. Korea and the US were followed by Russia (-12.1%), China (-8.2%), and India (-6.5%), worldsteel reported.
By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com
David Schollaert
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