Global crude steel production grows in December but declines overall in 2025
But total production for the full year 2024 declined by 0.9% to 1,839.4 million tonnes, reflecting weaker demand and economic uncertainty across several major producing regions.
China and India lead December growth
China, the world’s largest steel producer, recorded an 11.8% year-on-year increase in December output to 76.0 million tonnes, despite a 1.7% decline in total 2024 production to 1,005.1 million tonnes, worldsteel said on Friday January 24.
The late-year boost may be attributed to increased demand due to restocking ahead of the Lunar New Year and incoming transport-affecting winter weather, as well as a greater focus on exports. There was also positive news a month earlier in November around year-on-year increases in new home sales.
But slow domestic consumption weighed on output over the whole of 2025, driven by a depressed property market and lackluster government stimulus policies.
India also saw strong growth in December, with production rising by 9.5% to 13.6 million tonnes. This contributed to a 6.3% annual increase, bringing total output for the year to 149.6 million tonnes, showcasing strong domestic demand in the south Asian country’s steel market.
Europe and the Americas: mixed performance
Germany posted a 4.1% year-on-year rise in December output to 2.7 million tonnes, with annual production increasing by 5.2% to 37.2 million tonnes. The European Union as a whole saw a 7.2% increase in December output to 9.6 million tonnes, while full-year production rose by 2.6% to 129.5 million tonnes.
But while crude steel output in the European steel sector has improved, weak demand in downstream markets continues to be a concern for market participants.
The European Steel Association (Eurofer) has called for an urgent meeting and EU summit to aid the region’s steel industry “in crisis”.
“The EU steel sector was already suffering from the ongoing energy and raw material crises, and on top of this, the EU market is once again being flooded by cheap foreign steel,” the association said in a letter addressed to the EU Commission’s president and vice president that was published on December 6, 2024.
Meanwhile, North America saw a 4.3% decline in December output to 8.8 million tonnes, contributing to a 4.2% annual drop to 105.9 million tonnes. And the United States, the dominant producer in the region, posted a 2.4% decrease in 2024 output to 79.5 million tonnes, reflecting ongoing challenges in industrial demand and construction activity.
With recent policy shifts in the US, concerns have arisen about potential new tariffs on steel imports, which could significantly impact the US steel industry.
In South America, Brazil’s production edged up by 1.8% year on year in December to 2.6 million tonnes, while full-year production grew by 5.3% to 33.7 million tonnes.
UK records largest annual decline
The United Kingdom recorded the steepest decline in crude steel production among the top 40 producers, with output falling by 29.0% year on year to 4.0 million tonnes in 2024. This sharp drop reflects ongoing challenges in the UK steel industry, including high energy costs, weak domestic demand, negative economic conditions, issues of competitiveness and structural shifts toward decarbonization.
Russia and other CIS nations continue to struggle
Russia remained one of the worst-performing top ten steel producers, with December output falling by 8.6% year on year to 5.7 million tonnes and full-year production dropping 7.0% to 70.7 million tonnes. Economic sanctions, weak domestic demand, and competition from cheaper Chinese exports weighed on the sector.
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member nations recorded a 6.8% year-on-year decline in December to 6.8 million tonnes and a 4.2% annual decline to 84.8 million tonnes in 2024.
Ukraine, however, was an exception in the region, posting a 21.6% year-on-year increase in crude steel production to 7.6 million tonnes in 2024, reflecting efforts to revive its steel industry despite ongoing geopolitical challenges following Russia’s unprovoked invasion in 2022.
Turkey’s strong annual growth dented by December weakness
Türkiye’s crude steel output rose by 9.4% in 2024 to 36.9 million tonnes, marking one of the fastest growth rates among top producers. But December output fell by 7.6% year on year to 3.0 million tonnes.
Austria’s December steel production falls, stable in 2024
Austria’s steelmakers decreased crude steel production in December, according to worldsteel data. Output amounted to 559,000 tonnes, down 5.9% down year-on-year, Kallanish notes.
In 2024, the country produced 7.13 million tonnes of steel, flat compared to 2023. Austria remained in 23rd place in the ranking of top global steel producers, the data show. Overall EU output in December was 7.2% more on-year at 9.6mt.
In 2024, steel production was 2.6% higher on-year at 129.5mt.
Austrian steelmaker voestalpine has successfully commissioned the profile rolling mill engineered by Friedrich KOCKS (see separate story). Following the completion of all work and successful commissioning, the new equipment is now fully integrated into the hot tube rolling mill at the Kindberg site in Styria.
Voestalpine recently said it performed well in the first half of its business year through March 2025 despite the difficult economic environment in Europe. Demand remained strong from the railway infrastructure and aerospace sectors, and for high-bay warehousing systems made from advanced steel profiles.
The group’s revenue in H1 reached €8 billion ($8.32 billion), which is 5.5% or around €500 million below the comparative period in the first half of 2023/24. Ebitda decreased by 20.5% y-o-y to €718m and was influenced by negative one-off effects including the sale of its Buderus Edelstahl subsidiary and closure of automotive operations in Germany.
The decline in volumes was partly offset by a better product mix with higher profits, while lower sales prices were partly compensated by reduced raw materials values.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
World crude steel output down 0.8 percent in 2024
Global crude steel production in December last year increased by 5.6 percent year on year to 144.5 million mt, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
In 2024, global crude steel production went down by 0.8 year on year to 1.88 billion mt.
In December, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 106.3 million mt, up 9.0 percent, with China’s output at 76.0 million mt, up 11.8 percent, with 6.9 million mt produced by Japan, decreasing by 1.1 percent, 13.6 million mt produced by India, up by 9.5 percent, and 5.2 million mt produced by South Korea, moving down by 3.2 percent – with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.
EU-27 countries produced 9.6 million mt of crude steel in December, up by 7.2 percent year on year. In the given period, Germany’s output amounted to 2.7 million mt, up 4.1 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 3.0 million mt of crude steel in December with a 7.6 percent decrease compared to the same month in 2023. The
CIS registered a crude steel output of 6.8 million mt, decreasing by 6.8 percent on year-on-year basis, with Russia’s estimated output at 5.7 million mt, down 8.6 percent year on year.
In North America, in December, crude steel output totaled 8.8 million mt, down by 4.3 percent year on year, with the US producing 6.7 million mt, decreasing by 2.4 percent, both year on year. Crude steel output in South America in December amounted to 3.1 million mt, down by 3.8 percent compared to December 2023, with Brazil’s output totaling 2.6 million mt, rising by 1.8 percent year on year.
In the given month, Africa produced 1.9 million mt of crude steel, falling by 1.0 percent year on year. In the Middle East, crude steel output totaled 4.6 million mt, moving down by 4.5 percent.
German steel output increases, remains below historic norms
Crude steel production by German mills in 2024 was 5% higher than the year before, totalling 37.2 million tonnes, according to national steel federation WV Stahl.
Still, the overall production activity in Germany remains broadly in recession mode, WV Stahl notes, as output has been lower than 40mt for three years in a row. Other economic data contribute to a gloomy picture, Kallanish hears from the federation. Demand remains at a critically low level, and market supply has hit a historic low with an annual total of 27mt of finished products, 7% less than 2023.
Since 2017, the German market lost one-third of its previous volume, in contrast to overseas economies and other industrial EU nations, WV Stahl points out. With a view on the upcoming governmental elections, managing director Kerstin Maria Rippel calls on policy-makers to take measures to lead Germany back to strength as an industrial powerhouse.
The country hurts especially from the combination of low-priced imports and uncompetitive costs for electricity, Rippel says. The grid fees alone last year imposed extra costs of €300 million ($313m) for steelmakers. With US President Donald Trump taking office, Germany and the EU can no longer hide behind the argument of World Trade Organisation compatibility, she says.
In detail, crude steel production on the oxygen-route rose by 3.3% to 26.4mt, whilst EAF production went up by 10.2% to 10.8mt. The EAF-route increase is stronger, as 2023 was affected by an unusual temporary peaking of power prices, which lead to reduced activity.
That same effect can be seen in the figures for December 2024, when EAF production fell 3.1% year-on-year. Germany’s power supply was again affected by peaking prices due to a shortfall in renewable energy last month and again this month.
Christian Koehl Germany
Germany posts strongest output growth rate among top-10 steel-producing countries
Global crude steel production increased by just 0.8% to 146.8 million tonnes in November compared with the same month in 2023, but output fell by 1.4% year on year from January to November, worldsteel said on Monday December 23.
Germany
Crude steel production in Germany was up by 8.6% year on year to 2.9 million tonnes in November, according to worldsteel, with the output of Europe’s largest steel producer also up by 5.3% in the year to November compared to the same period in 2023 (see chart below).
Sources said the was probably mostly due to the decline in October and November 2023, when production cuts were introduced to balance supply and demand in the European steel market.
The increase could also be partially driven by the increase in the production of semi-finished steel products for export as a substitute for sanctioned Russian material.
The European Union’s 27 member states also reported a combined increase in crude steel production in November compared with the same month in 2023, with output up by 3.9% to 10.7 million tonnes. The year-on-year rise from January to November was 2.2%, with output reaching 119.9 million tonnes.
But despite the increased output, sources said that demand for finished flat and long steel products remained sluggish across Europe, with oversupply frequently cited as one of the main reasons hindering a stronger price rebound.
India
India was the second top-10 steel-producing country to record a significant increase in crude steel production in November, with output up by 4.5% to 12.4 million tonnes compared with the same month in 2023.
Output for the year to November was also up, increasing by 5.9% compared to the same period in 2023.
And larger steel mills in India recently tried to increase domestic finished steel prices.
A slight price rebound was achieved on expectations that the Indian government might impose provisional duties on steel imports before the completion of a safeguard investigation announced on December 19.
Earlier in December, India’s Ministry of Steel proposed a 25% safeguard duty on imports of all major flat steel from other Asian countries, such as Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam.
But the higher prices for HRC struggled to gain tractions, with demand for steel failing to match the increase in supplies following the capacity additions by all major steel mills in India since March, Fastmarkets understands.
China
In China, crude steel production moved up 2.5% year on year in November to reach 78.4 million tonnes, but output was down by 2.7% from January to November compared with the same period in 2023 and slow domestic consumption in the world’s largest steel-producing country remained a major concern.
To compensate for the sluggish domestic consumption, China has focused on exports in recent months, sources told Fastmarkets, and despite exports falling month on month in November, compared with the same month in 2023, volumes shipped out of the country increased, according to preliminary data ffrom the General Administration of Customs.
Steel exports amounted to 9.28 million tonnes in November, which was down by 17% from 11.18 million tonnes in October, but up by 16% from 8.01 million tonnes in November 2023.
But competitive Chinese steel prices in overseas markets resulted in an increase in trade protectionism around the world.
Russia
Estimated crude steel production in Russia fell by 9.2% year on year in November, to 5.5 million tonnes, worldsteel said, with output also down by 7% in the year to November, compared to the same period of 2023.
Key steel consuming industries in Russia were unable to generate sufficient demand to maintain high production rates in the country.
Russian iron and steel export volumes fell to 15.5 million tonnes in January-October 2024, according to data from Global Trade Tracker – 23,9% lower than the same period in 2023, due to international sanctions imposed following Russia’s attempted invasion of Ukraine.
In addition to countries and companies rejecting Russian steel exports, the prices achievable in the few countries still willing to do business with Russia have continued to fall.
WV Stahl: German August crude steel production up 0.5% on year
German crude steel production edged up 0.5% year on year to 2.9 million metric tons in August, according to data published Sept. 24 by German steel federation WV Stahl.
However, the volume was down 8.6% month on month, according to the data.
This brought January-August crude steel production from German mills to 25.4 MMt, up 4% year on year.
Of the total August volume, 2.1 million was produced from blast furnaces, down 0.1% year on year, and down 9.1% from July.
This brought the total for the eight-month period to 18 MMt, increasing 2.2% year on year.
According to WV Stahl, German crude steel production from electric arc furnaces in August totaled 734,000 metric tons, up 2.3% year on year but down 7% month on month.
Output from EAFs over January-August also increased 8.6% year on year to 7.4 MMt.
Meanwhile, Germany produced 2 MMt of pig iron in August, up 0.3% year on year, but down 7.4% form the previous month, bringing the eight-month volume to 16.55 MMt, up 2.4% year on year.
Output of hot-rolled steel products in August dropped 3.1% year on year and 9.6% from July to 2.35 MMt, with the January-August volume up 2.6% at 21.7 MMt.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur555/mt ex-works Ruhr Sept. 23, down 20% since the start of 2024.
worldsteel: global steel production falls 6.5% on year in Aug
Global crude steel production totaled 144.8 million metric tons in August, dropping 6.5% year on year and down 4.9% from July, according to World Steel Association data published Sept. 24.
This brought total production for the first eight months of 2024 to 1.25 billion metric tons, down 1.5% on the year.
China produced 77.9 MMt in August, down 10.4% on the year and 6% from July, making up 53.8% of total global crude steel output.
This brought China’s January-August volume to 691.4 MMt, down 3.3% year on year.
The world’s second-largest steel producer India saw production grow 2.6% year on year in August to 12.3 MMt, which was also up 1% month on month, the data showed.
India’s cumulative January-August output rose 6.5% to 98.5 MMt, according to worldsteel.
Japan’s August production was 6.9 MMt, down 3.9% on the year and 3.2% lower than July, with January-August output down 2.9% on the year at 56.7 MMt.
US output in August was 7 MMt, edging up 0.7% year on year and up 3.4% on the month, taking January-August production to 53.8 MMt, down 1.7% year on year.
Russia was estimated to have produced 5.8 MMt in August, falling 11.5% on the year and down 0.7% month on month, bringing its estimated January-August output to 48.5 MMt, down 4.9% on the year.
South Korea produced 5.5 MMt of crude steel in August, down 2.2% year on year and down 0.9% from July, with the eight-month volume down 5.5% on the year at 42.5 MMt.
Europe Jan-Aug output up 2.2%
For the European Union, crude steel production rose 2.2% on the year to 9.1 MMt in August, although this was 17% lower on the month, the data showed.
Europe’s January-August volume was 87.2 MMt, climbing 1.5% on the year.
Germany, the largest steel producer in Europe, saw its crude steel production edge 0.5% higher on the year to 2.9 MMt, although this was down 8.6% on the month.
In January-August, Germany produced 25.4 MMt of crude steel, up 4% year on year, the data showed.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur555/mt ex-works Ruhr Sept. 23, down 20% since the start of 2024.
Of the top 10 producers, Turkey saw the largest gains in August, with output rising 13.8% year on year to 3.1 MMt, according to the data, also representing a 3% increase from July. Eight-month production was up 14.8% on the year at 24.8 MMt.
Brazil produced 3 MMt in August, rising 7.3% year on year, but down 3% from July, while Iran’s monthly output was 1.4 MMt, falling 9.9% on the year and 22.7% lower than the previous month.
Brazil’s estimated production over January-August climbed 3.8% on the year to 22.4 MMt, while Iran’s output for the eight-month period rose 1.9% to 19.8 MMt.
October production of pig iron from 37 countries was 102.3 MMt, falling 6.1% year on year, the data showed, while direct reduced iron produced worldwide from 13 countries amounted to 10.5 MMt, up 3.35% year on year, the data showed.
Pig iron output over the January-August period totaled 854.6 MMt, down 3% year on year, while DRI production for the period rose 5.85% on the year to 82.7 MMt.
Crude steel data covers the 71 countries that report to worldsteel, accounting for about 98% of the world’s crude steel production.
