Global crude steel production increased by 3.4% year-on-year to 1.87-billion tonnes in 2019, despite output having contracted in all regions, except Asia and the Middle East, industry association, the World Steel Association (worldsteel), reports.

Asia produced 1.34-billion tonnes of crude steel in 2019, an increase of 5.7% year-on-year.

China’s crude steel production increased by 8.3% year-on-year to 996.3-million tonnes. The country’s share of global crude steel production increased from 50.9% in 2018 to 53.3% in 2019.

India’s crude steel production for 2019 was 111.2-million tonnes – a 1.8% year-on-year increase.

The Middle East produced 45.3-million tonnes of crude steel in 2019, an increase of 19.2% year-on-year, while Turkey’s crude steel production decreased by 9.6% year-on-year to 33.7-million tonnes.

Japan’s production fell by 4.8% year-on-year to 99.3-million tonnes, while South Korea’s output decreased by 1.4% year-on-year to 71.4-million tonnes.

The European Union produced 159.4-million tonnes of crude steel in 2019, a decrease of 4.9% compared with 2018. Germany produced 39.7-million tonnes of crude steel, a decrease of 6.5% year-on-year, while Italy’s output decreased by 5.2% to 23.2-million tonnes.

France produced 14.5-million tonnes of crude steel, a decrease of 6.1% compared with 2018. Spain produced 13.6-million tonnes of crude steel, a decrease of 5.2% year-on-year.

The Commonwealth of Independent States produced 100.4-million tonnes of crude steel, a decrease of 0.5% year-on-year. Russia’s output was 0.7% lower year-on-year at 71.6-million tonnes, while Ukraine’s output decreased by 1.2% year-on-year to 20.8-million tonnes.

Crude steel production in North America also decreased by 0.8% year-on-year to 120-million tonnes, despite production in the US having increased by 1.5% year-on-year to 87.9-million tonnes.

Annual crude steel production for South America was 41.2-million tonnes, a decrease of 8.4% on 2018, with Brazil’s output having decreased by 9% year-on-year to 32.2-million tonnes.

Africa produced 17-million tonnes of crude steel in 2019, a 2.3% year-on-year decrease, driven by a 10.4% year-on-year decrease in South Africa’s output at 5.67-million tonnes.