Global steel output declined by 4.3% over the year

Global steel production in March 2024 fell by 4.3% compared to the same month in 2023 – to 161.2 million tons. The figure increased by 8.3% compared to February. This is evidenced by the global ranking of 71 steel-producing countries by the World Steel Association.

Total steel production in the CIS+Ukraine increased by 1.5% over the month compared to March 2023 and by 16.4% m/m – to 7.8 million tons, including 15.8% y/y and 14.9% m/m – to 611 thousand tons in Ukraine.

The top ten steel-producing countries in March, according to World Steel, were:

• China – 88.3 million tons (-7.8% y/y);
• India – 12.7 million tons (+7.8%);
• Japan – 7.2 million tons (-3.9%);
• USA – 6.9 million tons (+0%);
• Russian Federation – 6.6 million tons (+0.8%);
• South Korea – 5.3 million tons (-9.5%);
• Germany – 3.5 million tons (+8.4%);
• Turkey – 3.2 million tons (+18%);
• Brazil – 2.8 million tons (+5.6%).
• Iran – 2.8 million tons (+2%).

In January-March 2024, global steel production increased by 0.5% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 469.1 million tons. In the CIS+Ukraine region, the figure increased by 1.6% y/y –  to 21.8 million tons. In particular, Ukraine increased steel production by 36.6% y/y over 3 months – to 1.69 million tons.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in 2023, global steel production decreased by 0.1% compared to 2022 – to 1.85 billion tons. Total steel production in the CIS+Ukraine increased by 4.5% year-on-year – to 88.1 million tons in 2022.

Ukraine produced 6.2 million tons of steel in 2023, down 0.6% y/y. The country was thus ranked 24th in the global steel production ranking, up from 25th in 2022.