Global crude steel production in December last year increased by 3.9 percent year on year to 138.1 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 69.5 percent, up 1.8 percentage points compared to December 2016 and down 12 percentage points compared to November.
In 2017, global crude steel production increased to 1.69 billion mt, up 5.3 percent year on year.
In 2017, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 1.16 billion mt, up 5.4 percent, with 831.7 million mt produced by China, up 5.7 percent, 104.7 million mt produced by Japan, down by 0.1 percent, 101.4 million mt produced by India, up 6.2 percent, and 71.1 million mt produced by South Korea, increasing by 3.7 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 168.7 million mt of crude steel last year, up 4.1 percent year on year. In the given period, Germany's output was 43.6 million mt, rising by 3.5 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 24 million mt, up 2.9 percent year on year, and Spain’s crude steel output amounted to 14.5 million mt, increasing by 6.2 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 37.5 million metric tons of crude steel in 2017, with a 13.1 percent increase from 2016. Iran's crude steel production in 2017 amounted to 21.73 million mt, up 21.4 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 101.96 million mt in 2017, remaining almost stable on year-on-year basis, with Russia producing 71.3 million mt, increasing by 1.3 percent, and Ukraine producing 22.7 million mt, down 6.4 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in 2017, crude steel output totaled 116 million mt, increasing by 4.8 percent, with the US producing 81.6 million mt, rising by four percent, and Mexico producing 20 million mt, up 6.33 percent, all on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in December amounted to 43.7 million mt, up 8.7 percent from December of the previous year, with Brazil's output totaling 34.4 million mt, increasing 9.9 percent year on year.