Global crude steel production in May this year increased by two percent year on year to 143.32 million metric tons, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel). In the given month, the average capacity utilization of steel mills across the globe was 71.8 percent, up 0.5 percentage points compared to May 2016 and down 1.8 percentage points compared to April.
In the January-May period of this year, global crude steel production increased to 694.88 million mt, up 4.7 percent year on year.
In May this year, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 98.93 million mt, up 2.4 percent, with 72.26 million mt produced by China, up 1.8 percent, 8.95 million mt produced by Japan, increasing by 0.1 percent, 8.5 million mt produced by India, up 6.4 percent, and 5.66 million mt produced by South Korea, falling by 2.7 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 14.76 million mt of crude steel in May, up two percent year on year. In May, Germany's output was 3.8 million mt, falling by 1.4 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 2.11 million mt, down 4.1 percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 1.42 million mt, up 21.5 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 3.29 million metric tons of crude steel in May, with a 9.7 percent increase from May last year. Iran's crude steel production in May amounted to 1.79 million mt, up 8.8 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 8.36 million mt in May, falling 7.1 percent on year-on-year basis, with Russia producing 5.95 million mt, decreasing by 1.5 percent, and Ukraine producing 1.69 million mt, down 25.5 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in May, crude steel output totaled 9.76 million mt, remaining stable, with the US producing 6.99 million mt, increasing by 0.2 percent, and Mexico producing 1.63 million mt, down one percent, all on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in May amounted to 3.69 million mt, up 10.2 percent from May last year, with Brazil's output totaling 2.93 million mt, increasing by 13.2 percent year on year.