The iron ore spot price for November 20, 2013 was up slightly to $136.40. Got a few data issues today so no more figures.
In news the World Steel Association released its October figures which are, in a word, strong:
World crude steel production for the 65 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 134 million tonnes (Mt) in October 2013, an increase of 6.6% compared to October 2012.
China’s crude steel production for October 2013 was 65.1 Mt, up by 9.2% compared to October 2012. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 9.5 Mt of crude steel in October 2013, an increase of 7.7% over October 2012. South Korea’s crude steel production was 5.9 Mt in October 2013, up by 5.2% on October 2012.
In the EU, Germany produced 3.8 Mt of crude steel in October 2013, an increase of 1.9% compared to October 2012. Italy produced 2.2 Mt of crude steel, -10.1% less compared to October 2012. Spain’s crude steel production was 1.4 Mt, an increase of 23.9% on October 2012. France’s production was 1.3 Mt, down by -1.8% on October 2012.
Turkey’s crude steel production for October 2013 was 3.1 Mt, up by 6.9% on October 2012.In October 2013, Russia produced 5.7 Mt of crude steel, a decrease of -1.5% compared to the same month 2012. Ukraine’s production was 2.6 Mt in October 2013, an increase of 1.2% on October 2012.The US produced 7.4 Mt of crude steel in October 2013, up by 8.7% compared to October 2012.The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio for the 65 countries in October 2013 was 77.5% and it is 2.5 percentage points higher compared to October 2012. It is -1.8 percentage points lower than September 2013.
