World steel output declines steepen

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From the World Steel Association:

World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 134 million tonnes (Mt) in October 2015, a -3.1% decrease compared to October 2014.

China’s crude steel production for October 2015 was 66.1 Mt, down by -3.1% compared to October 2014. Japan produced 9.0 Mt of crude steel in October 2015, a decrease of -3.8% compared to the same month in 2014.

In the EU, Germany produced 3.6 Mt of crude steel in October 2015, an increase of 2.7% compared to October 2014. Italy’s crude steel production was 1.9 Mt, down by -8.6% on October 2014. Spain produced 1.3 Mt of crude steel in October 2015, down by -3.1% compared to October 2014. France’s production for October 2015 was 1.2 Mt, a decrease of -20.9% compared to the same month in 2014.

Turkey’s crude steel production for October 2015 was 2.8 Mt, up by 2.0% on October 2014.

In October 2015, Russia produced 5.7 Mt of crude steel, down by -2.4% over October 2014. Ukraine produced 2.1 Mt of crude steel, up by 6.4% compared to the same month in 2014.

The US produced 6.7 Mt of crude steel in October 2015, down by -8.8% compared to October 2014.

Brazil’s crude steel production for October 2015 was 3.0 Mt, a decrease of -2.3% on October 2014.

The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio for the 66 countries in October 2015 was 68.3%. This is -3.4 percentage points lower than October 2014. Compared to September 2015, it is -1.0 percentage point lower.

That’s on track for 51mt less global steel production less than last year. Or, for iron ore, 82mt tonnes less demand compared with last year. I expect roughly this rate of decline to persist for several years at least.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.