Global crude steel production in March this year decreased by 1.7 percent year on year to 135.4 million metric tons, while a decline of 1.9 percent was observed on month-on-month basis, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel). In the given month, the average capacity utilization of steel mills across the globe was 72.5 percent, 3.2 percentage points lower compared to April 2014 and up 0.9 compared to March this year.
In the January-April period of this year, global crude steel production decreased to approximately 536.5 million mt, down 1.7 percent year on year.
In April this year, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 92.55 million mt, down 1.2 percent, with 68.9 million mt produced by China, down 0.7 percent, 8.4 million mt produced by Japan, down 6.1 percent, 7.43 million mt produced by India, up 2.1 percent, and 5.79 million mt produced by South Korea, decreasing by 6.6 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 14.39 million mt of crude steel in April, up 0.3 percent year on year. In April, Germany's output was 3.64 million mt, down 1.9 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 1.85 million mt, declining by 8.5 percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 1.3 million mt, down nine percent year on year.
Turkey produced 2.76 million metric tons of crude steel in April, with a 3.9 percent increase from the same month in 2014. Iran's crude steel production in April this year amounted to 1.27 million mt, down 12.4 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 8.66 million mt in April of the current year, down 4.7 percent year on year, with Russia producing 6.09 million mt, increasing by 3.2 percent, and Ukraine producing 1.92 million mt, down 24.9 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in April, crude steel output totaled 9.08 million mt, down 7.5 percent year on year, with the US producing 6.46 million mt and Mexico producing 1.5 million mt, down 9.8 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in April amounted to 3.79 million mt, down 0.1 percent from April 2014, with Brazil's output totaling 2.9 million mt, decreasing by 4.4 year on year.