Global crude steel output up again in February 2005
Data released by the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) show that global crude steel production amounted to 83.9 million metric tons in February 2005, up 3.7% year-on-year. For the first two months of the year, global crude steel production rose 6.2% year-on-year to 173.98 million metric tons. China produced 24.8 million metric tons of crude steel in February, up 21.2% on the same month in 2004. Total production for the Asian region was 41.4 million metric tons, a rise of 10.3% on February 2004. Production in the 25 member states of European Union totaled 15.1 million metric tons in February. Production declined in France (-4.2%), Germany (-1.4%) and the UK (-5.8%) compared to the same period in 2004. However, Italy saw a 3.1% increase in crude steel production. Crude steel production fell 6.7% in Canada and 3% in the US. On the other hand, Iran produced 786'000 metric tons of crude steel in February, a rise of 13.4% year-on-year.Global crude steel production (in thousands of metric tons) February January February %change 2 months 2005 2005 2004 Feb-05/04 2005 2004 %change Other Europe 2.133 2.300 2.160 -1.2 4.433 4.452 -0.4 EU (15) 13.238 14.382 13.370 -1.0 27.619 27.190 1.6 EU (25) 15.106 16.440 15.376 -1.8 31.546 31.270 0.9 C.I.S 8.545 9.453 8.769 -2.6 17.998 18.052 -0.3 N.America 10.091 11.248 10.397 -2.9 21.338 21.010 1.6 S.America 3.462 3.645 3.627 -4.5 7.107 7.314 -2.8 Africa 1.311 1.393 1.276 2.8 2.704 2.635 2.6 MiddleEast 1.193 1.161 1.100 8.4 2.355 2.182 7.9 Asia 41.382 43.521 37.518 10.3 85.091 75.414 12.8 Ocenia 668 737 692 -3.5 1.405 1.429 -1.7 Total 61 83.892 89.897 80.915 3.7 173.977 163.758 6.2 countries