Global crude steel production in the first half of 2024 totaled 954.6 million mt, steady year on year, according to World Steel Association data July 23.
The June total was 161.4 million mt, up 0.5% year on year, but down 2.1% on the month, the data showed.
The largest producer China had an output of 91.6 million mt in June, up 0.2% year on year but down 1.35% from May and making up 56.8% of the total volume. That took H1 volume to 530.6 million mt, down 1.1% year on year.
The second-largest producer India produced 12.3 million mt in June, up 6% year on year and up 0.3% on the month, with the H1 volume up 7.4% on the year to 74.2 million mt.
In June, Japan produced 7 million mt, down 4.2% year on year and 2% lower than May, with the H1 total at 42.7 million mt, falling 2.6% year on year.
The US produced 6.7 million mt of crude steel in June, down 1.5% on the year and 3% lower on the month, while Russia was estimated to have produced 6 million mt in June, down 4.1% on the year and falling 3.2% from May.
In H1, the US produced 40 million mt and Russia 36.8 million mt, down 2.4% and 3%, respectively, year on year.
South Korea produced 5.1 million mt in June, down 7.2% on the year and 0.85% lower on the month, taking the H1 total to 31.5 million mt, down 6.4% from H1 2023.
Turkey produced 3.1 million mt, up 4.3% from June 2023, but down 4.4% from May, with the H1 volume up 16.9% to 18.6 million mt.
In June, Iran produced 2.6 million mt, down 8.5% year on year and 19.7% lower than May, while Brazil produced 2.9 million mt, up 11.8% on the year and 11.2% higher from May.
EU June volume rises 5.1% on year
The EU produced 11.1 million mt in June, up 5.1% on the year, but down 5.7% from May. In H1, the EU produced 67.2 million mt of crude steel, up 0.9% on the year.
Germany, the region’s largest steelmaker, saw June production rise 8.9% year on year and remain steady on the month to 3.2 million mt, bringing the H1 volume to 19.4 million mt, up 4.5% on the year.
According to data from German Steel Federation (WV Stahl), Germany’s H1 electric steel production increased 8.7% on the year to 5.89 million mt, while its production via blast furnace rose 2.7% to 13.48 million mt.
Germany’s production of hot rolled coils in H1 rose 3% on the year to 16.72 million mt, VW Stahl said.
“Crude steel production seems to have passed the deepest valley. However, it is questionable how sustainable this development is,” VW Stahl Managing Director Kerstin Maria Rippel said in a statement
“Even after 2023, the weakest year in demand since the financial crisis, the steel industry is still lacking urgently needed demand impulses from the important steel-processing sectors,” Rippel said.
Mechanical engineering, the automotive industry and the main construction industry continued to struggle with weak international demand, the crisis in housing construction and a lack of investment at home and in the EU, Rippel said.
In June, Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed HRC prices in a range of Eur625-635/mt ($678-$689/mt) base ex-works Ruhr. The price was assessed at Eur625/mt ex-works Ruhr July 22, down 9.4% since the start of 2024.
Meanwhile, global production of pig iron from 37 countries was 642.4 million mt in H1, down 2.55% year on year, the data showed.
Direct reduced iron produced in 13 countries in H1 amounted to 61.6 million mt, rising 6.9% year on year, according to worldsteel.
The crude steel data covers 71 countries that report to worldsteel, accounting for about 98% of the world’s crude steel production in 2023.
Annalisa Villa | Jacqueline Holman
