World crude steel output totals 1.24 billion mt in 2006

The International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) has announced that the world crude steel output for 2006 reached 1.24 billion metric tons. This is an increase of 8.8 percent on the 2005 figure. The total represents the highest level of crude steel output in history. 2006 is also the third consecutive year in which the world's crude steel output has exceeded one billion metric tons. The 2006 crude steel production figure is 165.3 percent higher than the output of ten years ago. It is also 145.7 percent above the total recorded five years ago. However, over the past ten years the most remarkable growth has been observed in China and the Asia region. In 2006, the top three steel producing countries were China, Japan and the US. Brazil has slipped from ninth to tenth place in the list of the top ten steel producing countries.

Top ten crude steel producing countries

Rank    Rank    Country      2006    2005    %Change 
2006    2005 

 1       1      China        418.8   355.8     17.7
 2       2      Japan        116.2   112.5      3.3
 3       3      US            98.5    94.9      3.8
 4       4      Russia        70.6    66.1      6.8
 5       5      S. Korea      48.4    47.8      1.3
 6       6      Germany       47.2    44.5      6.1
 7       7      India         44.0    40.9      7.6
 8       8      Ukraine       40.8    38.6      5.7
 9      10      Italy         31.6    29.4      7.5
10       9      Brazil        30.9    31.6     -2.2