World crude steel production in May was 130Mt - 4.2% higher than in May 2010.

China’s crude steel production for May 2011 was 60.2Mt, up 7.8% compared to May 2010. Japan produced 9.0Mt of crude steel in May 2011, a decrease of 7.0% compared to the same month last year. South Korea produced 5.9Mt, 12.8% more than in May 2010.

Germany’s crude steel production for May 2011 was 4.1Mt, an increase of 1.1% compared to May 2010. Italy’s crude steel production was 2.6Mt, up 6.9% compared to the same month last year.

Brazil’s crude steel production for May 2011 was 3.3Mt, an increase of 14.7% compared to May 2010. The US produced 7.3Mt of crude steel in May 2011, 0.1% higher than in May 2010.

In May 2011, the world crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 64 countries was 81.7%, 0.6 percentage points lower than in April 2011. Compared to May 2010, the utilisation ratio is 0.6 percentage points lower.

Source www.worldsteel.org