Economy

WSA: Global Steel Production Fell in January on Cutbacks in China

Written by David Schollaert

February 22, 2022

Global crude steel production was estimated at 155 million metric tons in January as steelmakers around the world cut output by 6.7 million metric tons, or 2.3%, from the prior month, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) reported.

Since reaching an all-time high of 174.4 million metric tons last May, global steel output has waned in six of the last eight months, driven largely by Chinese cutbacks. Chinese steel production was down 4.5 million metric tons, or 5.2%, last month versus December. Output in the rest of the world rose 1.1% to 800,000 metric tons, worldsteel said.

Steel production worldwide was down 6.7 million metric tons, or 4.8%,  last month when compared to January 2021 but up 2.8%, or 3.7 million metric tons, when compared to the pre-pandemic period in January 2020.

GCSP Jan22

Chinese steel output accounted for 52.7% of worldwide production in January, edging down 1.6 percentage points month-on-month.

Seven out of the top 10 global steel-producing countries saw production gains or were unchanged month-on-month in January. China, Japan, and Turkey reported declines in monthly output. Brazil reported the largest percentage increase, up 11.5%, or 300,000 tons more than December, for a total of 2.9 million tons. India saw the largest total gain in tons, up 400,000 metric tons or 3.8%. U.S. production grew by 1.4% in January, up 100,000 tons to a sum of 7.3 million tons versus the prior month, worldsteel reported.

By David Schollaert, David@SteelMarketUpdate.com

David Schollaert

David Schollaert is a senior analyst for Steel Market Update. David joined SMU after more than a decade in the metals and mining industry in a myriad of different roles. Much of his early experience and expertise were within the coverage and analysis of steel-making raw materials and served previously as senior editor of the CRU Prices Service. Most recently, however, before his return to market analysis, David held roles as a metals buyer and an operations manager for raw material suppliers. Based in CRU’s Pittsburgh office, David can be reached at david@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-720-1008.

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