Global crude steel production in July this year decreased by 3.8 percent year on year and by 2.2 month on month to 133 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 68.4 percent, 3.8 percentage points lower compared to July 2014 and down 5.26 percentage points compared to June this year.
In the January-July period of this year, global crude steel production decreased to approximately 945.84 million mt, down 2.1 percent year on year.
In July this year, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 90.25 million mt, down 3.7 percent, with 65.84 million mt produced by China, down 4.6 percent, 8.84 million mt produced by Japan, decreasing by 4.9 percent, 7.66 million mt produced by India, up 1.2 percent, and 6.06 million mt produced by South Korea, increasing by 1.7 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 13.89 million mt of crude steel in July, up 0.2 percent year on year. In July, Germany's output was 3.61 million mt, rising by 4.7 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 1.85 million mt, declining by 11.6 percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 1.42 million mt, down 1.4 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 2.54 million metric tons of crude steel in July, with a 10.4 percent decrease from the same month in 2014. Iran's crude steel production in July this year amounted to 1.27 million mt, down 1.3 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 8.46 million mt in July, down 9.3 percent year on year, with Russia producing 6.05 million mt, decreasing by 2.8 percent, and Ukraine producing 1.87 million mt, down 24.1 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in July, crude steel output totaled 9.74 million mt, down 6.8 percent, with the US producing 6.99 million mt, decreasing by 9.1 percent, and Mexico producing 1.58 million mt, up 2.4 percent, all year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in July amounted to 3.79 million mt, down 3.3 percent from July 2014, with Brazil's output totaling 2.88 million mt, decreasing by 3.1 percent year on year.