By  Paul Ploumis 25 Aug 2015  Last updated at  02:13:24 GMT

ABU DHABI (Scrap Monster): According to most recent data published by the World Steel Association (World Steel), the crude steel production by the Middle East region increased by 4.6% during the month of July ’15 year-on-year. The region’s crude steel output totaled 2.351 Million tonnes during July this year, as compared with 2.247 Million tonnes during the same month a year before.

The total crude steel production by Iran during July was 1.273 Million tonnes, marginally down by 1.3% in comparison with the July 2014 production of 1.290 Million tonnes. Qatar produced 235,000 tonnes of crude steel, considerably lower by 13% when compared to 270,000 tonnes production achieved during July 2014. Meantime, Saudi Arabia’s crude steel output climbed higher over the previous year at 560,000 tonnes during July this year. The total crude steel production by the UAE during July was 283,000 tonnes, significantly higher by 71.3% in comparison with the July 2014 production of 165,000 tonnes.

The cumulative crude steel output by the Middle East region during the initial seven months of current year totaled 16.626 Million tonnes, 3.2% higher when compared with the output of 16.115 Million tonnes during the corresponding seven-month period in 2014.

The following table provides cumulative crude steel output for the first seven months in 2015 in comparison with those during same period in 2014.

  (Note: Output in thousands of tonnes)