Global crude steel production in July this year increased by 1.4 percent year on year to 133.7 million metric tons, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel). In the given month, the average capacity utilization of steel mills across the globe was 68.3 percent, in line with July 2015 but down 3.7 percentage points compared to June this year.
In the January-July period of this year, global crude steel production decreased to 929.63 million mt, down 1.2 percent year on year.
In July this year, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 92.24 million mt, up 2.8 percent, with 66.8 million mt produced by China, up 2.6 percent, 8.88 million mt produced by Japan, increasing by 0.5 percent, 8.08 million mt produced by India, up 8.1 percent, and 6.0 million mt produced by South Korea, rising by 1.5 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-28 countries produced 12.98 million mt of crude steel in July, down 4.6 percent year on year. In July, Germany's output was 3.93 million mt, declining by 6.1 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 2.05 million mt, up 6.2 percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 1.15 million mt, down 4.7 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 2.66 million metric tons of crude steel in July, with a 6.5 percent increase from the same month in 2015. Iran's crude steel production in July this year amounted to 1.35 million mt, up 6.2 percent year on year. The CIS registered a crude steel output of 8.77 million mt in July, up 2.8 percent year on year, with Russia producing 6.13 million mt, increasing by 0.9 percent, and Ukraine producing 2.06 million mt, up 10.5 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in July, crude steel output totaled 9.72 million mt, down 0.4 percent, with the US producing 6.87 million mt, decreasing by 2.2 percent, and Mexico producing 1.65 million mt, up 8.8 percent, all on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in South America in July amounted to 3.44 million mt, down 9.7 percent from July 2015, with Brazil's output totaling 2.7 million mt, decreasing by six percent year on year.