Global steel output falls 8.7% in May, but China lifts production
Global crude steel output slipped 8.7% in May to 148.8-million tonnes as many steelmakers shut operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic, even as top producer China was resilient and pumped out more of the metal.
Data from the World Steel Association on Monday showed a sharp contrast between steel production in China, which has largely been lifting its lockdowns, and the rest of the world.
Crude steel output from China, also the world's biggest consumer of the metal, increased 4.2% year-on-year to 92.3-million tonnes in May.
But production tumbled 36.6% in the United States, 31.8% in Japan and 26.8% in the European Union, the data showed.
The decline in Japan, the world's No. 3 steel producer, was the steepest monthly slide since June 2009, according to an analyst at the Japan Iron and Steel Federation, which released data on Monday.
Indian output slid by 39.1%, while the drop in South Korean production was less severe, at 14.1%, World Steel said.
The trade association, whose members account for about 85% of global steel production, forecast earlier this month that global steel demand was expected to fall 6.4% this year, but bounce back next year.
Comments
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation