Global steel production fell by 4.2% y/y in March

Global steel production in March 2026 fell by 4.2% year-over-year and rose by 12.8% month-over-month, reaching 159.9 million tons. This is according to the World Steel Association’s global ranking of steel-producing countries (69).

Total steel production in the CIS countries and Ukraine decreased by 7.9% year-on-year and increased by 10% month-on-month – to 6.6 million tons. Steel output in Ukraine in March of this year increased by 27.6% year-on-year and by 36.4% month-on-month, reaching 702,350 tons.

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

• China – 87 million tons (-6.3% year-on-year);
• India – 15.3 million tons (+9.4%);
• United States – 7.2 million tons (+5.2%);
• Japan – 6.9 million tons (-4.1%);
• Russia – 5.4 million tons (-11.4%);
• South Korea – 5.4 million tons (+1.5%);
• Turkey – 3.3 million tons (+6.4%);
• Germany – 3.3 million tons (+7.5%);
• Brazil – 2.8 million tons (-2.5%);
• Vietnam – 2.2 million tons (+5.7%).

According to first-quarter results, global steel production totaled 459.2 million tons (-2.3% y/y). In the CIS countries and Ukraine, 18.9 million tons of steel were produced during this period, which is 9.8% less than last year.

As reported by GMK Center, global steel production fell by 2% year-on-year in 2025, to 1.8 billion tons. Total steel production in the CIS countries and Ukraine declined by 4.4% year-on-year in 2025, to 81.3 million tons. China reduced output by 4.4% year-on-year (960.8 million tons), India increased it by 10.4% year-on-year (164.9 million tons), and the U.S. by 3.1% year-on-year (82 million tons).