May 08 2014 LONDON (Scrap Register): MEPS forecasts world steel output, this year, at 1655 million tons. This equates to a 3 percent increase on the outturn in 2013. The majority of this growth will, once again, come from Asia, particularly China.

MEPS believes that steelmaking in the EU will increase, this year, following a decline in each of the past two years. Our estimate, at 170 million tons, represents an annual increase of 2.6 percent.

Steel manufacturing in Europe, excluding the EU and CIS, should reach 40 million tons in 2014 - a rise of 3.1 percent, year-on-year.

Our 2014 forecast for steelmaking in the CIS has been downgraded in this issue and now stands at 108.5 million tons. This represents a slight decrease from the previous year’s outturn.

North American raw steel production is predicted to be relatively unchanged this year, compared with the figure recorded in 2013.

Our prognosis for the outturn of crude steel in South America this year is 46.7 million tons - up 1.5 percent from the 2013 level.

Steel manufacturing in Africa is forecast to increase this year to 16.55 million tons. This equates to a rise of 3.1 percent, compared with 2013.

Another record steel output figure is forecast for 2014 in the Middle East. At 27.4 million tons, this will be the sixteenth consecutive annual rise in production.

Total Asian steel manufacturing should reach a figure of more than 1.1 billion tons this year. This equates to an increase of 3.7 percent, year-on-year.