Global crude steel production by the 67 countries reporting to industry body World Steel Association (worldsteel) increased 4.1% year-on-year to 126.6-million tonnes in February.
China produced 4.6% more crude steel year-on-year, at 61.2-million tonnes, while Japan produced 8.3-million tonnes, a 0.1% contraction compared with February 2016, the latest data released by worldsteel on Thursday showed.
South Korea achieved an 8.3% increase in crude steel production to 5.5-million tonnes, while India reported an 8.9% uptick to 8.1-million tonnes.
Germany produced 3.5-million tonnes of crude steel, an increase of 2.6% compared with February 2016.
Italy increased its production by 1.2% to two-million tonnes and France produced 1.2-million tonnes of crude steel during the month under review, down 5.8% on the prior corresponding month the year before.
Turkey’s crude steel production for February surged 15.6% to 2.7-million tonnes.
The US produced 6.4-million tonnes of crude steel, a decrease of 1% compared with February 2016, while Brazil’s crude steel production was up 5.7% to 2.6-million tonnes.
Africa’s overall crude steel output rose 18.2% year-on-year to 1.09-million tonnes. South Africa’s crude steel production increased by 3.6% year-on-year to 496 000 t.
The average capacity utilisation in February was 70.3%, a four percentage-point increase year-on-year and a 1.1 percentage point climb than January.