Global crude steel output maintains ascent trend in February
As per the data released by International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), global crude steel production reached 80 million mts in February, up by 12.8% compared to February 2003. In the first two months of 2004, production rose to 161.6 million mts which was 10.4% higher than the first two months of 2003. Production in Asia again indicated a significant growth. Total production in the region amounted to 37.6 million mts in February with a rise of 22.8% compared to the same period of last year. Year-to-date production was also up by 17.5% to 74.6 million mts. China produced 19.7 million mts of crude steel in February with an increase of 31.5% compared to corresponding period in 2003. Year-to-date production was up by 27.9% to 39.1 million mts. Japan and South Korea have also shown major increases in crude steel output in February. Japan produced 9.8 million mts of crude steel with a 17.3% increase while South Korea's crude steel production amounted to 3.8 million mts, up by 13.3%. CIS produced 8.8 million mts of crude steel in February. Russian crude steel production increased by 10.6% to 5 million mts in February.
February January February %change 2 months
2004 2004 2003 Feb-04/03 2004 2003 %change
Other
Europe 2.109 2.278 1.842 14.5 4.388 3.950 11.1
EU (15) 12.993 13.620 12.893 0.8 26.613 25.952 2.5
EU (25) 14.906 15.638 14.630 1.9 30.544 29.540 3.4
C.I.S 8.769 9.283 7.714 13.7 18.052 16.320 10.6
N.America 9.942 10.491 9.974 -0.3 20.434 20.478 -0.2
S.America 3.605 3.696 3.239 11.3 7.301 6.533 11.7
Africa 1.267 1.355 1.285 -1.4 2.621 2.621 0.0
MiddleEast 1.099 1.082 1.025 7.2 2.180 2.093 4.2
Asia 37.637 37.050 30.656 22.8 74.624 63.490 17.5
Ocenia 685 730 588 16.6 1.415 1.359 4.1
Total 62 80.020 81.603 70.952 12.8 161.560 146.386 10.4
countries