Global crude steel output reaches 1.05 billion tons in 2004
The data released by the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) shows that global crude steel production reached 1.05 billion mts in 2004, up by 8.8% over 2003. Excluding China, global production rose by 4.5% in 2004. China is again the largest producer of crude steel. China produced 272.5 million mts of crude steel in 2004 with an increase of 23.2% compared to 2003. China accounted for 25.8% of all crude steel produced in the world in 2004. Turkey was the 12th largest producer of crude steel in 2004 with production of 20.5 million mts. This figure was 11.9% higher than 2003 production. Iran with 10.3%, Kazakhstan with 9.9% and Thailand with 26% all showed strong increases in percentage terms. Crude steel production in the Asian region stood at 499.3 million mts in 2004, up by 13.2% over 2003. Crude steel production showed a rise in all other regions except for Oceania. Steel production in Oceania fell by 1.4% in 2004.Global Crude Steel Production ( in metric tons) 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 %04/03 Europe 281.8 284.0 308.9 304.7 308.5 320.8 337.2 5.1 EU (15) 159.9 155.2 163.4 158.5 158.7 160.7 168.3 4.8 CIS 74.0 85.7 98.5 99.6 101.1 107.5 111.8 4.0 North America 129.9 130.1 135.3 119.9 122.9 126.2 133.0 5.4 South America 36.1 34.6 39.1 37.4 40.9 43.0 46.0 6.9 Africa 12.8 12.8 13.8 14.9 15.8 16.3 16.7 2.2 Middle East 9.1 9.8 10.8 11.7 12.5 13.4 14.2 5.7 Asia 297.9 308.8 331.9 353.9 394.9 441.2 499.3 13.2 Australia and New Zealand 9.7 8.9 7.8 7.9 8.3 8.4 8.3 -1.4 World 777.3 789.0 847.6 850.3 903.8 969.3 1054.6 8.8