World crude steel production increased by 6.6% to 154.9Mt in May 2018, according to figures released by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) and based on steel produced by 64 countries reporting to the organisation.
China’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 81.1 Mt, up 8.9% compared to May 2017. Japan produced 9.1 Mt of crude steel in May 2018, an increase of 1.8%, and India produced 8.8 Mt of crude steel, an increase of 7.6%. South Korean crude steel production was up 3% to 6.2Mt.
In the European Union, Italy produced 2.2 Mt of crude steel, up by 3.7% while Spain produced 1.3 Mt, up by 7%. France produced 1.3 Mt, a decrease of 6.5%.
Turkey’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 3.3Mt, up 0.5%.
In Ukraine crude steel production was 1.7 Mt, up 2.9%.
In the USA, 7.1 Mt of crude steel was produced in May, an increase of 3% when compared with May 2017.
In Latin America, Brazil’s crude steel production for May 2018 was 2.7 Mt, down by 8.6%.
The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 64 countries in May 2018 was 77.7%. This is 4.2 percentage points higher than in May 2017. Compared to April 2018, it is 1 percentage point higher.
