Features
Global steel production dipped in December, 2023 output down
Written by David Schollaert
January 25, 2024
Global steel output fell in December, led by cuts in China, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) said in its latest monthly report. Annual totals in 2023 saw a similar trend.
Producers around the world produced 135.7 million metric tons (mt) of steel in December. This was 3.1% below the 145.5 million mt produced the month before and was a 5.3% year-on-year (y/y) decline, worldsteel said.
All told, despite the month-on-month (m/m) decline in global crude steel production last month, output totaled 1.89 billion mt in 2023. The results were largely identical vs. 2022, the report said.
Regional breakdown
China, the world’s top steel producer, saw a 14.9% m/m decline in output to 67.4 million mt in December. China’s production was unchanged y/y, however. December marked the lowest month for Chinese steel production since February 2018.
Meanwhile, steel output in the rest of the world (RoW) declined by 1.6% m/m but was nearly 9% higher y/y to 68.3 million mt in December. For the year, output in the RoW totaled 815.2 million mt in 2023, down 0.5% vs. 2022 when production reached 819.3 million mt.
Regionally, Europe, Other, saw the highest y/y rise in output, increasing by 19.4% y/y to 3.9 million mt. Africa’s production rose by 17.7%; Russia, other CIS, and Ukraine’s by 11.8%; the Middle East’s by 9.6%; and the EU’s was up by 2.7%.
North America’s steel output was up 5.3% y/y in December at 9.3 million mt, but down 1.7% in 2023 vs. the year prior, according to worldsteel’s figures.
Regions with lower on-year production included Asia and Oceania (-9.7% to 96.4 million mt – severely impacted by China’s lower output) and South America (-3.2% to 3.2 million mt).
David Schollaert
Read more from David SchollaertLatest in Features
US and Canadian rig counts log increases
Drilling activity rose in both the US and Canada last week, according to the latest data release from Baker Hughes. US rig activity increased to a six-week high but remains near multi-year lows. Canadian counts continue to improve, now at a 20-week high.
Steel industry groups urge House action on LTPF 2.0
Six steel industry organizations have urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to include the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act in any proposed package of legislation against China’s "unfair" trade practices.
CRU: Poor steel margins continue to push down raw material prices
Both iron ore and coking coal prices fell this week because of resistance from buyers. Iron ore prices have continued to fall throughout the past week, following sharp declines in steel prices in China, given no new policy announcement from the ‘Third Plenum’ meeting.
Final thoughts
SMU has heard from some larger buyers who have stepped back into the market to buy at prices that, if not at a bottom, they assess to be close to one. Is it enough to stretch out lead times and send prices upward again? Or do we continue to scrape along the mid-$600s per short ton (st) as we have been doing for most of the last month?
Steelmaking raw material prices ease in July
The majority of steelmaking raw material prices declined in June, following the same trend seen in May, according to SMU’s latest analysis.