Crude steel production down in 2020

Latest data from the World Steel Association (worldsteel) shows global crude steel production was 1 864.0 million tonnes in 2020, down 0.9% compared to 2019.

Asia produced 1 374.9 million tonnes of the overall total, an increase of 1.5%. The bulk was obviously from China, whose total of 1 053.0 million tonnes indicates a rise of 5.2%, increasing its share of global production from 53.3% in 2019 to 56.5% in 2020. On the other hand, India’s crude steel production last year fell 10.6%. Japan’s was down 16.2% and South Korea fell 6.0%.

The EU total of 138.8 million tonnes was down 11.8% on 2019 while North America fell 15.5% with the United States producing 72.7 million tonnes, down 17.2%.

Those reporting increased production include Turkey (up 6% to 35.8 million tonnes), the Middle East (up 2.5% to 45.4 million tonnes), the CIS (up 1.5% to 102.0 million tonnes) and Iran (up 13.4% to 29.0 million tonnes).