On Friday, June 19, the World Steel Association (worldsteel), formerly the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), announced world crude steel production results for May 2009.
According to the worldsteel report, world crude steel production for the 66 countries surveyed was 95.6 million mt in May, down by 21 percent year on year.
In May 2009, China's crude steel production was 46.5 million mt, 0.6 percent higher than May 2008. Japan produced 6.5 million mt of crude steel in May 2009, down by 38.5 percent, compared to the same month last year, while South Korea showed a decrease of 11.8 percent, producing 4.2 million mt of crude steel.
In the EU, Germany's crude steel was 2.2 million mt in May 2009, a decrease of 47.8 percent from May 2008. Italy produced 1.7 million mt in May 2009, down by 41.6 percent year on year. Spain produced 1.2 million mt of crude steel in May 2009, 41.3 percent less than the same month last year. France showed a decrease of 41.3 from May 2008, producing 1.0 million mt in May 2009.
The US produced 4.3 million mt of crude steel in May 2009, a decrease of 50.6 percent compared to the same month last year. Brazil produced 1.9 million mt of crude steel in May 2009, 36.3 percent lower than in May 2008.
Meanwhile, Russia's crude steel production for May 2009 was 4.7 million mt, a decrease of 31.2 percent from May 2008, while Ukraine produced 2.4 million mt of crude steel in May 2009, 40 percent lower year on year.
Turkey produced 2.1 million mt of crude steel in May 2009, 16.1 percent down from May 2008.
Iran produced 900,000 mt crude steel in May 2009, 11.6 percent more than in May 2008.
On the other hand, world crude steel production for the first five months of 2009 was 449 million mt, a 22.4 percent decrease over the same period of 2008. Asia produced 294 million mt of crude steel, a decline of 8.8 percent over the first five months of 2008. The EU produced 50.7 million mt of steel from January to May 2009, down by 44.4 percent compared to the same months of 2008. North America showed a 49.3 percent decline, producing 29 million mt during the first five months of 2009.
In addition, China produced 217.2 million mt of crude steel for the first five months of 2009, a slight increase of 0.4 percent, and Iran showed an increase of 12.6 percent, producing 4.7 million mt of crude steel for the first five months of 2009. Meanwhile, all the other major steel producing countries showed a decrease for the first five months of 2009.