Global crude steel production in April this year decreased by 0.5 percent year on year and declined by 1.8 percent month on month to 134.9 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 71.5 percent, 1.3 percentage points lower compared to April 2015 and 0.8 percentage points higher compared to the previous month.
In the January-April period of this year, global crude steel production decreased to 521.3 million mt, down 2.8 percent year on year.
In April, crude steel output in China amounted to 69.42 million mt, up by 0.5 percent, with 8.5 million mt produced by Japan, up 1.2 percent, 7.8 million mt produced by India, increasing by 3.9 percent, and 5.6 million mt produced by South Korea, decreasing by 1.3 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
In April, Germany's output was 3.55 million mt, declining by 1.5 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output totaled 2.1 million mt, up 14.5 percent year on year, and France's crude steel output amounted to 966,000 mt, decreasing by 26.5 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 2.88 million metric tons of crude steel in April, with a 5.3 percent increase year on year. Iran's crude steel production in the given month amounted to 1.5 million mt, up 7.8 percent year on year. In April, Russia produced 5.9 million mt, down by 0.4 percent year on year, and Ukraine produced 2.15 million mt, rising 11.7 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In the given month, crude steel output in the US totaled 6.6 million mt, up by 2.5 percent, while Mexico produced 1.3 million mt of crude steel, down by 7.3 percent, both on year-on-year basis. Crude steel output in Brazil in April this year amounted to 2.3 million mt, down 20.6 percent year on year.