World steel production edges 1.2% higher in 2014

Global – Having peaked at 2.5% during the first half of last year, the 2014 increase in global steel production narrowed to just 1.2% in the final analysis, according to the World Steel Association.

The output total of 1.662 billion tonnes for the whole of 2014 compared to 1.642 billion tonnes for 2013, with Asia contributing 1.132 billion tonnes for a year-on-year gain of 1.4%. It proved to be a particularly slow December for the EU-28 where steel production fell 5.7% year on year in the final month, although its tally for the full year was 1.8% higher than for 2013 at 169.243 million tonnes.

Turkey, the world’s biggest steel scrap importer, also suffered a year-on-year steel production reverse of 6.3% in December, to give a total for 2014 that was 1.8% lower than that for 2013 at 34.035 million tonnes. However, this decline paled alongside the 17.1% fall registered last year by troubled Ukraine to 27.17 million tonnes from 32.771 million tonnes in 2013.

China, the USA and India recorded year-on-year steel production increases of, respectively, 1.5%, 3.7% and 2.2% in December. As a result, China’s output for the year as a whole was 0.9% higher than for 2013 at 822.7 million tonnes while the USA and India finished 2014 with gains of, in turn, 1.7% to 88.347 million tonnes and 2.3% to 83.208 million tonnes.

For more information, visit: www.worldsteel.org