Photo by: Creamer Media
World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) decreased by 6% year-on-year in March to 147-million tonnes.
The association says the global steel industry is being impacted on by factory shutdowns, disrupted supply chains, collapsing confidence, delayed investment and construction projects and a decline in consumption activity.
Additionally, financial market volatility and collapsing oil prices have further undermined investment.
The duration of the present disruption is currently impossible to judge, says worldsteel.
In March, Africa produced one-million tonnes of crude steel, a 22% year-on-year decrease on the 1.3-million tonnes produced in March 2019. Egypt produced 682 000 t of steel in March, while Libya produced 23 000 t and South Africa 300 000 t.
The world's biggest steel producer, China, produced 79-million tonnes of steel in March, a 1.7% year-on-year decrease.
For the three months ended March 31, the world produced 443-million tonnes of crude steel, compared with 449-million tonnes of crude steel produced in the three months ended March 31, 2019.
African producers contributed 3.5-million tonnes of production in the first quarter of this year, compared with 3.8-million tonnes in the first quarter of last year.
Asia produced 315-million tonnes of crude steel in the first quarter of 2020, a decrease of 0.3% over the first quarter of 2019.
The European Union produced 38-million tonnes of crude steel in the first quarter of this year, down by 10% compared with the same quarter last year.
North America’s crude steel production in the quarter under review was 29.5-million tonnes, which was 4% lower year-on-year.