Worldwide Steel Production Increases 18 Percent in June

The World Steel Association (Brussels, Belgium) reports that worldwide production of crude steel increased 18 percent in June this year, compared with the same month in 2009. Total production in June 2010 reached 119 million tons, while total production for the first six months of 2010 reached 706 million tons, which is an increase of 29.7 percent.

When compared with the first half of 2007, before the global economic crisis, total production showed an increase of 7.2 percent. However, many regions are still struggling to reach the pre-crisis levels; the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the United States and Canada's production figures for the first half of 2010 were more than 15 percent below the corresponding period in 2007.

The success story continues to be the Asian region. China reported a 9 percent increase for June 2010 from the same month last year, with a total production of 53.8 million tons, while crude steel production in Japan for June 2010 was up 35.9 percent from June 2009, at 9.4 million tons. South Korea also displayed a healthy rise, with a figure of 4.8 million tons for June 2010, up 21.9 percent.

In the EU, nearly all countries reported increases compared with June 2009, with Germany leading the way with 3.85 million tons produced in June 2010, up 53.4 percent, although production for June 2010 was still almost 6 percent below the same month in 2007. Other EU countries to record such increases included Italy, with 2.3 million tons produced, marking a 32.8 percent increase, while France produced 1.5 million tons for a 31.4-percent increase. The only other EU country to record production of more than 1 million tons for June was Spain, which had a June production of 1.4 million tons, up 16.7 percent.

Within the CIS, Russia and Ukraine dominated the production figures with 5.43 million tons and 2.47 million tons, respectively, generating increases from June 2009 of 6 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively. Brazil, with a June 2010 crude steel production of 2.85 million tons, registered a 46.8-percent increase and was the leading South American steel producer.

In the North American region, the U.S. produced 7.2 million tons of crude steel in June 2010, up 65 percent from June 2009, while Mexico, at 1.4 million tons, and Canada, with 1.1 million tons, both exceeded the 1 million-ton boundary in June 2010, representing increases of 17.6 percent and 17.3 percent, respectively.

Following a peak of 82.6 percent crude steel capacity utilization ratio in April this year, the fall in capacity utilization registered in May continued in June this year, with a total capacity utilization ratio of 80.6 percent compared with the May ratio of 82 percent. However, the June 2010 utilization ratio showed an 8.3 percent increase from the same month last year. According to the latest statistics released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (Washington, D.C.), raw steel production in the U.S. reached 1.76 million tons for the week ending July 17, a 0.2-percent increase on the previous week and a 37.5-percent increase from the same period last year. Capacity utilization in the U.S. for the week ending July 17 was 71.4 percent, significantly higher than the 52.4 percent recorded during the same week in 2009.

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