63recyclinginternational.com | March/April | 2020
FERROUS
were Asia and the Middle East.
Asia’s 2019 total of 1,341.6 million
tonnes of crude steel was an increase
of 5.7% compared to 2018. Within that
figure, China’s crude steel production
in reached 996.3 million tonnes, up
8.3% and China’s share of global crude
steel production increased from 50.9%
in 2018 to 53.3% in 2019. India’s crude
steel production was 111.2 million
tonnes, up 1.8% on 2018. Japan’s total
of 99.3 million tonnes was down 4.8%
while South Korea produced 71.4 mil-
lion tonnes, down 1.4%.
The EU produced 159.4 million tonnes
of crude steel in 2019, a decrease of
4.9% on 2018. Of the major producers,
Germany totalled 39.7 million tonnes
(down 6.5%) and Italy’s 23.2 million
tonnes was 5.2% lower. Others includ-
ed France on 14.5 million tonnes
(down 6.1%) and Spain on 13.6 million
tonnes (down 5.2%).
Crude steel production in North
America was 120.0 million tonnes in
2019, 0.8% lower than in 2018. As
always, the US dominates this region,
accounting for 87.9 million tonnes, up
1.5%.
The CIS produced 100.4 million tonnes
(- 0.5%), Russia totalled 71.6 million
tonnes (-0.7%) while Ukraine’s 20.8 mil-
lion tonnes was down 1.2%. The
Middle East produced 45.3 million
tonnes in 2019, an increase of 19.2%
on 2018.
South America produced 41.2 million
tonnes, a decrease of 8.4%, of which
Brazil accounted for 32.2 million tonnes,
down 9.0%. Elsewhere, Turkey’s crude
steel production was 33.7 million tonnes
(- 9.6%), Africa produced 17.0 million
tonnes (-2.3%) and Oceania’s 6.1 million
tonnes was down 2.9% on 2018.
Worldsteel’s global total for January,
based on the 64 reporting countries,
was 154.4 million tonnes, a 2.1%
increase compared to January 2019.
The December 2019 figure was 152.1
million tonnes, up from 147.8 million
tonnes a month before and 146.2 mil-
lion tonnes in December 2018.
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