Global crude steel production in March this year increased by 2.6 percent month on month and fell by six percent year on year to 147.1 million metric tons, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
In the first quarter of this year, global crude steel production decreased to 443.03 million mt, down 1.4 percent year on year.
In the first quarter, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 315.15 million mt, falling by 0.3 percent, with 234.45 million mt produced by China, up 1.2 percent, 24.36 million mt produced by Japan, decreasing by 2.4 percent, 27.5 million mt produced by India, falling by 5.3 percent, and 16.94 million mt produced by South Korea, down by 4.8 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 38.29 million mt of crude steel in the first quarter down by ten percent year on year. In the given period, Germany's output was 9.47 million mt, falling by 9.3 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 5.28 million mt, down by 16.2 percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 3.73 million mt, decreasing by 3.6 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 8.97 million metric tons of crude steel in the first quarter, with a 9.6 percent increase from the same month of last year. Iran's crude steel production in March amounted to 6.75 million mt, up by 13.2 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 25.15 million mt, falling by 0.6 on year-on-year basis, with Russia producing 17.9 million mt, down by one percent, and Ukraine producing 5.32 million mt, falling by 3.4 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in the first quarter, crude steel output totaled 29.52 million mt, decreasing by four percent, with the US producing 21.95 million mt, down by one percent, and Mexico producing 4.14 million mt, falling by 16.6 percent, all on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in the first quarter amounted to 9.96 million mt, declining by 7.1 percent from the first quarter of 2019, with Brazil's output totaling 8.02 million mt, contracting by seven percent year on year.