According to the World Steel Association (worldsteel), in 2012 the crude steel output of 64 countries surveyed across the globe reached 1.55 billion mt, increasing by 1.2 percent on year-on-year basis, hitting a new record for global crude steel production. In December 2012, world crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to worldsteel was 121.3 million mt, with an increase of 2.4 percent compared to December 2011.
In 2012, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 1 billion mt, up 2.6 percent, with 716.5 million mt produced by China, up 3.1 percent, 107.2 million mt produced by Japan, down 0.3 percent, and 69.3 million mt produced by South Korea, up 1.2 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis. The Asia region's share of world steel production increased slightly from 64.5 percent in 2011 to 65.4 percent in 2012.
EU-27 countries produced 169.4 million mt of crude steel in 2012, down 4.7 percent compared with 2011. In 2012, Germany's output was 42.7 million mt, down by 3.7 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 27.2 million mt, down 5.2 percent year on year, and Spain's crude steel output was 13.6 million mt, down 12.1 percent year on year.
Turkey produced 35.9 million metric tons of crude steel in 2012, with a 5.2 percent increase over 2011, ranking the eighth largest crude steel producer in the world, rising from 10th place in 2011.
The CIS registered a crude steel output of 111.3 million mt in 2012, down 1.2 percent year on year, with Russia producing 68.9 million mt, up 2.5 percent, and Ukraine producing 32.9 million mt, down 6.9 percent, both on year-on-year basis.
In North America in 2012, crude steel output reached 121.9 million mt, up 2.5 percent year on year, with the US producing 88.6 million mt, up 2.5 percent on year-on-year basis.
Meanwhile, crude steel output in South America in 2012 declined to 46.9 million mt, down by three percent year on year, with Brazil's output falling to 34.7 million mt, down by 1.5 percent year on year.
In December 2012, the average capacity utilization of steel mills across the globe was 78.8 percent, up by 1.1 percentage points month on month and down 1.9 percentage points compared to the same month last year.
The top 10 crude steel producing countries in 2012 are as follows:
