Crude steel production for the 64 countries that provide data to the global industry body the World Steel Association (worldsteel) increased by 4.8% year-on-year to 162.9-million tonnes in January.
Production in Africa, the US, Japan and the European Union (EU) had, however, decreased, worldsteel reports.
The three countries in Africa that are part of the association – Egypt, Libya and South Africa – produced 1.2-million tonnes of steel - a 7.9% year-on-year decrease.
Production in the US fell by 9.9% to 6.9-million tonnes, while Japanese production was 3.9% lower, at 7.9-million tonnes.
The EU region's production fell by 0.4% to 12.2-million tonnes.
The Asia and Oceania region, which includes Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan (China) and Vietnam, expanded production by 6.3% to 119-million tonnes, while the Commonwealth of Independent States region, which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, grew its crude steel production by 4.5% to 9.2-million tonnes.