Global crude steel production across the 64 countries covered by the Worldsteel Association (worldsteel) decline by 7pc in June 2020 to 148.3mn mt compared to the same month last year.
In H1 2020, global crude steel production fell by 6pc to 873.1mn mt compared to H1 2019. Asia’s crude steel production decreased by 3pc to 642mn mt while EU’s crude steel production saw an 18.7pc decline to 68.3mn mt during the same period. In North America, output declined by 17.6pc to 50.2mn mt in the first six months of the year compared to the same period in 2019.
In Asia, Japan saw the steepest decline in crude steel production, down by 36.3pc to 5.6mn mt in June compared to June 2019. India followed with a 26.3pc drop in crude steel output to 6.9mn during the same period. South Korea recorded a 14.3pc decline to 5.1mn mt in crude steel production in June compared to the same period last year. However, crude steel output increased by 4.5pc in China, reaching 91.6mn mt last month compared to June 2019.
Crude steel production in Germany fell by 27.3pc to 2.5mn mt in June 2020 from the same month last year, while Italy’s crude steel production decreased by 13pc to 1.8mn mt during the same period. Crude steel production in France and Spain declined by 34.9pc and 31.5pc, respectively, to 0.8mn mt in June this year compared to last year.
The US also witnessed a 34.5pc drop to 4.7mn mt in June 2020 compared to the same month last year, while Turkey’s steel production rose by 4.1pc to 2.8mn mt during the same period.
Crude steel production in the CIS region saw a 5pc decline to 7.9mn mt, but it surged by 9pc in Ukraine to 1.8mn mt in June this year from June 2019.
The current figures presented are estimated numbers collected from most of the countries due to the pandemic. Worldsteel will publish firm figures in next month’s release, the association noted.