June 27, 2017 03:00:37 AM
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The monthly production data published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) indicate that blast furnace iron production by world countries remained more or less flat during the month of May this year. The production totaled 100.616 million tonnes (Mt) during the month, as compared with the production of 100.423 Mt during April 2017. The cumulative global BFI output during the initial five months of 2017 totaled 492.579 million tonnes. The above information is based on the output recorded by 39 countries, which accounted for approximately 99% of the world BFI production during the entire year 2015.
The blast furnace iron output by the Asian region totaled 78.738 Mt during May ‘17, accounting for over 78% of the total global output. The output during the month dropped slightly when matched with 79.064 Mt in April ‘17. The leading regional BFI producers during May this year were China (61.733 Mt), Japan (6.700 Mt), India (5.480 Mt) and South Korea (3.565 Mt). The BFI output by Asian countries during the first five months of 2017 totaled 385.346 Mt.
The EU-28 countries recorded an output of 8.064 Mt during May 2017, rising modestly by 2.80% when matched with the output of 7.844 Mt output reported during the prior month. The top BFI producers were Germany (2.410 Mt), France (981,000 tonnes), Austria (561,000 tonnes), the Netherlands (500,000 tonnes), the UK (495,000 tonnes), and Italy (455,000 tonnes). The cumulative BFI production by the EU-28 countries totaled 39.290 Mt during the first five months. The Other Europe region including countries such as Boznia-Herzegovina, Serbia and Turkey reported monthly and cumulative output of 1.111 Mt and 5.272 Mt respectively.
The BFI production by the CIS region amounted to 6.180 Mt during the month. The output declined slightly when matched with the previous month output of 6.205 Mt. The leading BFI producer from the region during the month was Russia with 4.300 Mt. The other key producers were Ukraine (1.530 Mt) and Kazakhstan (350,000 tonnes). The combined output during Jan-May ’17 by the CIS region totaled 31.264 Mt.
The North American BFI output increased marginally from 2.712 Mt in April ‘17 to 2.820 Mt in May this year. The output by the US totaled 1.950 Mt, accounting for nearly 69% of the total monthly production. The US production has increased by 4.3% from 1.869 Mt in April this year. The other key BFI producing nations were Canada (555,000 tonnes) and Mexico (320,000 tonnes). The regional output during the initial five-month period of the year totaled 31.264 Mt. The cumulative output by the US during Jan-May ’17 totaled 9.649 Mt. The five-month output by Canada and Mexico totaled 2.729 Mt and 1.697 Mt respectively.
Meantime, the blast furnace iron production by South America increased marginally over the previous month to total 2.735 Mt in May ‘17. Brazil continued to remain as the leading BFI producer of the region with monthly production totaling 2.479 Mt in May ‘17. The output by Brazil had totaled 2.401 Mt during the month prior to this. The other key BFI producers during the month were Argentina (183,000 tonnes), Chile (55,000 tonnes), Colombia (15,000 tonnes) and Paraguay (3,000 tonnes). The BFI output by South America during Jan-May ’17 totaled 12.809 Mt.
Oceania region recorded marginal increase in BFI production during the month. The production totaled 381,000 tonnes, as compared with the production of 373,000 tonnes during April this year. The output by Australia registered marginal increase from 313,000 tonnes in April to 320,000 tonnes in May. Also, New Zealand’s output edged higher from 60,000 tonnes to 61,000 tonnes over the previous month. The region’s cumulative output during the initial five-month period of 2017 totaled 1.815 Mt.
