Global crude steel production in June this year decreased by 2.4 percent year on year and month on month to 136 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 72.2 percent, 3.5 percentage points lower compared to June 2014 and up 0.1 compared to May this year.
In the January-June period of this year, global crude steel production decreased to approximately 813 million mt, down two percent year on year.
In June this year, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 92.54 million mt, down 1.9 percent, with 68.95 million mt produced by China, down 0.8 percent, 8.57 million mt produced by Japan, down 6.2 percent, 7.42 million mt produced by India, up 0.8, and 5.86 million mt produced by South Korea, decreasing by 3.6 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 14.63 million mt of crude steel in June, up 1.7 percent year on year. In June, Germany's output was 3.77 million mt, up 5.8 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 1.92 million mt, declining by 11.4 percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 1.38 million mt, down 1.3 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 2.84 million metric tons of crude steel in June, with a 4.55 percent decrease from the same month in 2014. Iran's crude steel production in June this year amounted to 1.43 million mt, up 1.5 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 8.28 million mt in June of the current year, down 10.7 percent year on year, with Russia producing 5.64 million mt, decreasing by 7.5 percent, and Ukraine producing two million mt, down 21.8 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in June, crude steel output totaled 9.41 million mt, down 6.4 percent year on year, with the US producing 6.72 million mt and Mexico producing 1.56 million mt, down 8.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in June amounted to 3.66 million mt, up 0.88 percent from June 2014, with Brazil's output totaling 2.78 million mt, increasing by 2.1 percent year on year.