Daily iron ore price update (no steel growth for you!)

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So, your table is below:

A good day yesterday for iron ore but less so for its underpinnings.

The news was not much better for steel with the release of the September figures for global steel production by the by the World Steel Association:

World crude steel production for the 62 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 124 million tonnes (Mt) in September 2012, recording no change compared to September 2011.

…China’s crude steel production for September 2012 was 58.0 Mt, up by 0.6% compared to September 2011.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.8 Mt of crude steel in September 2012, a decrease of -1.0% compared to the same month last year. South Korea’s crude steel production for September 2012 was 5.6 Mt, up by 1.8% compared to September 2011.

In the EU, Germany produced 3.6 Mt of crude steel in September 2012, a decrease of -2.2% on September 2011. Italy’s crude steel production for September 2012 was 2.4 Mt, down by -7.8% compared to September 2011. France’s crude steel production for September 2012 was 1.3 Mt, a decrease of -3.0% on September 2011. In September 2012, Spain produced 1.2 Mt of crude steel, -10.3% lower than September 2011.

…The US produced 7.0 Mt of crude steel in September 2012, down by -3.0% on September 2011.

The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio for the 62 countries in September 2012 rose to 77.7% from 75.5% in August 2012. Compared to September 2011, it is 2.5 percentage points lower.

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As I keep saying, no or lousy growth in output lots of new supply of inputs. You draw the conclusion.

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.