Global crude steel production in March this year increased by 12.5 percent month on month and by four percent year on year to 148.3 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 74.5 percent, up 2.2 percentage points compared to March 2017 and rising by 0.9 percentage points compared to February.
In the January-March period of this year, global crude steel production increased to 426.55 million mt, up 4.1 percent year on year.
In March this year, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 102.19 million mt, rising by 4.3 percent, with 73.98 million mt produced by China, up 4.5 percent, 9.08 million mt produced by Japan, increasing by 2.2 percent, 9.22 million mt produced by India, increasing by 5.3 percent, and 6.09 million mt produced by South Korea, rising by 4.7 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 15.11 million mt of crude steel in March, up 0.5 percent year on year. In March, Germany's output was 3.90 million mt, rising by 0.6 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 2.28 million mt, up one percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 1.35 million mt, up 1.5 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 3.36 million metric tons of crude steel in March, with a 7.6 percent increase from March last year. Iran's crude steel production in March amounted to 2.35 million mt, up 43.7 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 8.10 million mt in March, decreasing by six percent on year-on-year basis, with Russia producing 5.70 million mt, declining by ten percent, and Ukraine producing 1.71 million mt, up 4.7 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in March, crude steel output totaled 10.3 million mt, increasing by 4.9 percent, with the US producing 7.26 million mt, rising by 5.3 percent, and Mexico producing 1.75 million mt, up 2.9 percent, all on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in March amounted to 3.99 million mt, up 8.7 percent from March last year, with Brazil's output totaling 3.06 million mt, increasing by 7.6 percent year on year.