By Anil Mathews (ScrapMonster Author)

March 23, 2016 12:59:02 AM

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): According to the recent data published by the World Steel Association, the crude steel production by Asia dropped by 3.4% during the month of February 2016 year-on-year.

The total crude steel production by China during February was 58.515 Million tonnes, edging lower by 4.0% when compared with the production of 60.925 Mt during February 2015. India produced 6.940 Million tonnes of crude steel, marginally lower by 3.6% when compared with 7.201 Million tonnes production achieved during February last year.

Japan reported 1.0% decline in monthly crude steel output during the month. Japan's crude steel output dropped from 8.441 Million tonnes in February 2015 to 8.355 Million tonnes in the same month this year.

South Korean crude steel production edged higher by 5.0% from 5.049 Million tonnes in February 2015 to 5.300 Million tonnes in February this year. Meantime, Pakistan’s crude steel output totaled 240,000 tonnes during the month.

The Taiwanese Feb ‘16 crude steel output has dropped considerably by 15.6% year-on-year to 1.500 Million tonnes from 1.777 Million tonnes during same month last year. Also, Thailand’s crude steel output has dropped sharply by 26.9% from 321,000 tonnes during February last year to almost 235,000 tonnes this year.

The following table provides cumulative crude steel output for the first two months in 2016 in comparison with those during same period in 2015.

Note: Output in thousands of tonnes