market report
Global crude steel production up 2.8% m-o-m in Jan Chandrika Mitra
W
orld crude steel production for the 62 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (Worldsteel) rose by 2.89 percent to 124.799 million tons (mt) in January 2013 as compared to that reported in December 2012 at 121.293 mt. Again, crude steel production for January 2013 was higher by 0.83 percent compared to 123.768 mt in January 2012. In January 2013, Asia produced 82.325 mt of crude steel, an increase of 3.98 percent over January 2012. The EU produced 13.452 mt of crude steel in January 2013, down by 4.99 percent compared to the same month of 2011. North America’s crude steel production in January 2013 was 10.139 mt, 2.99 percent lower than the corresponding month of 2011.
China, the single largest producer, produced 59.339 mt of crude steel in January this year, an increase of 4.59 percent as compared to the corresponding period in 2011, when production stood at 56.733 mt. Again, m-o-m production saw a fall of 2.92 percent as compared to December 2012’s produce of 57.656 mt. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.865 mt of crude steel in January 2013, an increase of 2.72 percent compared to the same month last year. India’s production for January 2013 stood at 6.6 mt, up 3.82 percent compared to January 2012. South Korea produced 5.751 mt during the same period, a 0.38 percent decrease on the same month 2011. In the EU, Germany produced 3.6 mt of crude steel in January 2013, an increase of 5.4 percent on January 2012. Italy’s crude steel production was 1.8 mt, down by 19.7
percent compared to January 2012. France’s crude steel production was 1.4 mt, down by 1.3 percent on January 2012. Spain produced 1.1 mt of crude steel, 2.5 percent lower than January 2012. In January 2013, Russia produced 5.7 mt of crude steel, a decrease of 5.7 percent compared to the same month last year. Ukraine’s crude steel production for January 2013 was 2.7 mt, 4.4 percent less than January 2012. Turkey’s crude steel production for January 2013 was 2.9 mt, a decrease of 8.8 percent compared to January 2012. The US produced 7.3 mt of crude steel in January 2013, down by 5.8 percent on January 2012. The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio for the 62 countries in January 2013 declined to 71.2 percent from 73.2 percent in December 2012. Compared to January 2012, it is 5.5 percentage points lower. It is to be noted that the March 2012 to January 2013 data covers 62 countries while March 2011 to December 2011 contains 64 countries. In January and February 2012, only 59 countries are covered as three African countries, Algeria, Libya & Morocco while two Middle East countries Iran and Qatar did not provide monthly production statistics.
World crude steel production Apr 2012 European Union (27)
in ‘000 tons
May 2012
Jun 2012
Jul 2012
Aug 2012
Sep 2012
Oct 2012
Nov 2012
Dec 2012
Jan 2013
Jan 2013/ Jan 2012 (% change)
14,949
15,415
14,716
14,228
12,028
14,301
14,161
13,595
11,975
13,452
-4.99%
Other Europe
3,081
3,282
3,151
3,264
3,175
3,186
3,020
3,142
2,991
3,015
-9.58%
C.I.S. (6)
9,570
9,615
9,243
9,172
9,250
9,280
8,933
8,904
8,925
8,913
-6.20%
North America
10,684
10,772
9,780
10,014
10,348
9,592
9,582
9,511
10,087
10,139
-2.99%
South America
4,074
3,945
3,829
3,937
3,836
3,835
4,185
3,873
3,603
3,611
-3.22%
Africa
1,221
1,289
1,223
1,166
1,213
1,153
1,196
1,151
1,217
1,280
4.00%
Middle East
1,736
1,705
1,674
1,404
1,589
1,642
1,634
1,659
1,640
1,574
-7.32%
Africa/Middle East
2,957
2,994
2,897
2,570
2,803
2,795
2,830
2,810
2,857
2,854
-2.56%
China
60,575
61,234
60,213
61,693
58,703
57,946
59,096
57,471
57,656
59,339
4.59%
India
6,360
6,593
6,375
6,359
6,476
6,299
6,604
6,400
6,600
6,600
3.82%
Japan
9,077
9,224
9,198
9,251
9,207
8,802
8,836
8,505
8,569
8,865
2.72%
South Korea
5,915
6,032
5,764
5,907
5,632
5,661
5,651
5,640
5,811
5,751
-0.38%
Taiwan, China
1,783
1,804
1,781
1,761
1,730
1,440
1,675
1,664
1,770
1,770
5.41%
83,710
84,887
83,330
84,971
81,747
80,147
81,862
79,681
80,406
82,325
3.98%
485
477
485
494
519
511
504
473
450
491
0.28%
68,934
70,153
67,218
66,957
65,004
65,702
65,979
64,519
63,637
65,460
-2.35%
129,509
131,387
127,431
128,650
123,707
123,648
125,075
121,990
121,293
124,799
0.83%
Asia Oceania Rest of the world except China World Source: WSA
Steel Insights, March 2013
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