Crude steel output by Asia, Africa and the Middle East surged higher in March

April 28, 2017 02:30:24 AM

BEIJING (Scrap Monster): The monthly statistics released by the World Steel Association suggests significant jump in crude steel output by Asia, Africa and Middle East regions during the month of March this year. The output by the African region surged higher by 14.5% over the previous year. The production by the Middle East and Asian regions were up by 8.7% and 3.4% respectively, when matched with the previous year.

Asia

The total crude steel production by China during March this year was 71.995 Million tonnes, marginally higher by 1.8% when compared with the production of 70.701 Mt during March 2016. India produced 9.000 Million tonnes of crude steel, considerably up by 8.2% when compared to 8.316 Million tonnes production achieved during Mar ’16. Japan too reported marginal rise of 1.8% in monthly crude steel output during March. Japan's crude steel output increased from 8.726 Million tonnes in Mar ‘16 to 8.885 Million tonnes in the same month this year. South Korean crude steel production edged higher by 6.4%. Pakistan and Thailand reported 28.9% and 21.5% jump in production respectively. Taiwan’s crude steel output climbed higher by 5.1% over the year. Meantime, Vietnam’s output more than doubled during the month.

The following table provides cumulative crude steel output for the initial three-month period of the current year in comparison with the previous year.

Note: Output in thousands of tonnes

Africa

Egypt produced 560,000 tonnes of crude steel, rising significantly by 32.1% when compared to 424,000 tonnes production achieved during Mar ‘16. Libya’s crude steel output edged higher to 49,000 tonnes during the month of March 2017, when matched with 43,000 tonnes produced during the same month a year before. Morocco’s output surged higher by 20.6%. South African crude steel output increased marginally by 0.1% to total 539,000 tonnes during the month.

The following table provides cumulative crude steel output for the first three months in 2017 in comparison with the corresponding period in 2016.

Note: Output in thousands of tonnes 

Middle East

The total crude steel production by Iran during March 2017 was 1.580 Million tonnes, significantly higher by 18.3% in comparison with the Mar ’16 production of 1.336 Million tonnes. Qatar produced 240,000 tonnes of crude steel, marginally lower by 1.2% when compared to 243,000 tonnes production achieved during March last year. Meantime, Saudi Arabia’s crude steel output has declined sharply by 13% over the previous year. The total crude steel production by the UAE during Mar ’17 was 282,000 tonnes, higher by 4.8% in comparison with the Mar ’16 production of 269,000 tonnes. 

The following table provides cumulative crude steel output during Jan-Mar ’17 as compared with the corresponding three-month period in 2016.

  (Note: Output in thousands of tonnes)