Global steel production fell by 3.8% y/y in May

Global steel production in May 2025 fell by 3.8% compared to the same month in 2024, to 158.8 million tons. Compared to the previous month, the figure increased by 2%. This is evidenced by the global ranking of steel-producing countries (70) by the World Steel Association.

Total steel production in the CIS countries + Ukraine decreased by 8.1% y/y and increased by 1.4% m/m to 7 million tons, in particular in Ukraine, it decreased by 13.8% y/y and 8.1% m/m to 635,800 tons.

According to World Steel, the top ten steel-producing countries in May were:

• China – 86.6 million tons (-6.9% y/y);
• India – 13.5 million tons (+9.7%);
• Japan – 6.8 million tons (-4.7%);
• USA – 7 million tons (+1.7%);
• Russia – 5.8 million tons (-6.9%);
• South Korea – 5.1 million tons (-1.7%);
• Iran – 3.4 million tons (+4.5%);
• Turkey – 3.1 million tons (-2.8%);
• Germany – 3 million tons (-6.4%);
• Brazil – 2.7 million tons (+5%).

In January-May, global steel production decreased by 1.3% y-o-y – to 784 million tons. In the CIS+Ukraine region, the figure decreased by 4.7% y-o-y – to 34.8 million tons. Ukraine produced 3.06 million tons of steel in five months, which is 2.5% less y-o-y.

As GMK Center reported earlier, global steel production decreased by 0.9% in 2024 compared to 2023, to 1.839 billion tons. In December 2024, the figure was 144.5 million tons, which is 5.6% more than in December 2023 and 1.6% less than in the previous month.

Ukraine produced 7.57 million tons of steel last year, which is 21.6% more than in 2023. In December, smelting volumes amounted to 547,000 tons (+5.1% y/y; +1.1% m/m).