Global crude steel production in 2022 fell 4.3% year on year to 1.83 billion mt, according to World Steel Association data published Jan. 31
Largest producer China produced 1.01 billion mt of crude steel during the year, down 2.1% year on year, making up 55.3% of the overall total.
The world’s second-largest steel producer India increased output by 5.5% in 2022 to 124.72 million mt, while production from Japan dropped 7.4% to 89.23 million mt for the year.
Output from the US fell 5.9% year on year to 80.71 million mt in 2022, while an estimated 71.5 million mt was produced in Russia, down 7.2%, mostly likely affected by the Russia-Ukraine war and related sanctions.
South Korea production for the year also decreased 6.5% on the year to 65.86 million mt and output from Turkey dropped 12.95% to 35.13 million mt.
European output falls
Crude steel production in the whole of Europe, including the UK, fell 10.9% year on year to 181.43 million mt in 2022, with Germany, the largest European steel producer, producing 36.85 million mt, down 8.4% from 2021.
A number of European steelmakers curtailed or shut production in the second half of 2022 due to high energy prices and/or low demand.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic hot-rolled coil prices in Northern Europe at Eur680/mt ex-works Ruhr Dec. 30, down 26.2% since the start of 2022.
Brazil’s output for the year declined 5.8% year on year to 34 million mt, while Iran produced 30.59 million mt in 2022, up 8% from the previous year.
The data released covers the 64 countries that report to worldsteel, accounting for around 98% of the world’s crude steel production.
The worldsteel data also showed that pig iron production for the year from 38 countries totaled 1.28 billion mt, down 3.8% year on year, while total global direct reduced iron output climbed 6.9% year on year to 110.5 million mt in 2022.
— Jacqueline Holman
