Global crude steel production in May this year increased by 3.8 percent month on month and by 5.4 percent year on year to 162.74 million metric tons, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
In the January-May period of this year, global crude steel production increased to 764.07 million mt, up five percent year on year.
In the January-May period, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 542 million mt, rising by 7.4 percent, with 404.9 million mt produced by China, up 10.2 percent, 42.3 million mt produced by Japan, decreasing by 4.3 percent, 45.3 million mt produced by India, rising by 1.1 percent, and 30.5 million mt produced by South Korea, up by 1.8 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 71 million mt of crude steel in the first five months of this year, down by 2.4 percent year on year. In the given period, Germany's output was 17.3 million mt, falling by 5.2 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 10.47 million mt, down by two percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 6.4 million mt, down by 4.8 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 14.3 million metric tons of crude steel in the first five months of this year, with a 10 percent decrease from the same period last year. Iran's crude steel production in the first five months of this year amounted to 10.62 million mt, up by 5.5 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 42.14 million mt, falling by 0.3 on year-on-year basis, with Russia producing 29.76 million mt, down 0.7 percent, and Ukraine producing 9.3 million mt, rising by 6.8 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in the first five months of this year, crude steel output totaled 51.17 million mt, increasing by 3.5 percent, with the US producing 37.17 million mt, rising by 6.2 percent, and Mexico producing 8.14 million mt, down by 6.3 percent, all on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in the January-May period of this year amounted to 17.67 million mt, falling by 2.7 percent from the same period of 2018, with Brazil's output totaling 14.03 million mt, declining by 1.5 percent year on year.