Global crude steel production reached 152.1 million mt in October, rising 1% year over year and 5.9% from September, according to World Steel Association data published Nov. 22.
This brought total production for the first 10 months of 2024 to 1.5 billion mt, down 1.6% year over year.
China produced 81.9 million mt in October, increasing 2.9% from a year earlier and up 6.5% from September, accounting for 53.8% of the total global crude steel output.
This brought China’s January-October volume to 850.7 million mt, down 3% year over year.
The world’s second-largest steel producer India saw production edge up 1.7% year over year to 12.5 million mt in October, which was also up 6.8% month over month, the data showed.
India’s cumulative January-October output rose 5.6% to 123 million mt, according to worldsteel.
Japan’s October production was 6.9 million mt, down 7.8% year over year but up 4.5% from September, with January-October output down 3.7% year over year at 70.2 million mt.
US output in October was 6.6 million mt, down 2% year over year and down 1.5% month over month, taking January-October production to 66.7 million mt, down 1.9% from the previous year.
Russia was estimated to have produced 5.6 million mt in October, down 15.2% year over year and steady from September, bringing its estimated January-October output to 59.4 million mt, a decline of 6.8% from the previous year.
South Korea produced 5.4 million mt of crude steel in October, down 1.8% year over year and 1.8% from September, with the 10-month volume down 5.1% from the prior year at 53.1 million mt, the data showed.
Europe Jan-Oct output up 2.1%
Crude steel production in the EU rose 5.5% year over year and 6.2% month over month to 11.3 million mt in October, the data showed.
The EU’s January-October volume was 109.3 million mt, climbing 2.1% year over year.
Germany, the largest steel producer in Europe, saw its crude steel production rise 14.7% year over year to 3.2 million mt, which was also 7% higher from September.
Germany produced 31.6 million mt crude steel in January-October, up 5% year over year, the data showed.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur560/mt ex-works Ruhr on Nov. 21, down 18% from the start of 2024.
Turkey produced 3 million mt of steel in October, up 0.7% year over year, brining the 10-month total to 30.9 million mt, rising 12.4% year over year.
Brazil’s October crude steel production also rose 16.2% year over year to 3.1 million mt, while Iran’s fell 1.9% year over year to 3 million mt.
Crude steel data covers the 71 countries that report to worldsteel, accounting for about 98% of global crude steel production.
October production of pig iron from 37 countries was 104.4 million mt, rising 0.2% year over year and 4.5% from September, the data showed, while direct-reduced iron produced from 13 countries amounted to 12.8 million mt, up 16.9% year over year and 19.9% higher than the previous month, the data showed.
