The Yield of China's Crude Steel Increases by 8 Percent in January-May

According to the World Steel Association (worldsteel), in May this year the crude steel output of 63 countries surveyed across the globe reached 136.3 million mt, increasing by 2.6 percent on year-on-year basis and up 3.2 percent compared to April this year. Total global crude steel production in the first five months of the current year rose 2.1 percent compared to the same period of 2012 and was up four percent over the first four months of 2011, amounting to 658 million mt.

In May, crude steel output in Asia amounted to 91 million mt, up by 5.7 percent, with 67 million mt produced by China, up by 7.3 percent, 9.6 million mt produced by Japan, up by 4.3 percent, and 5.5 million mt produced by South Korea, down by 7.1 percent - with all comparisons on year-on-year basis.

EU-27 countries produced 14.7 million mt of crude steel in May, down 4.7 percent compared with May 2012. In May this year, Germany's output was 3.65 million mt, down by 1.5 percent year on year, Italy's crude steel output was 2.3 million mt, down 11.1 percent year on year, and Spain's crude steel output was 1.4 million mt, up 4.3 percent year on year.

Turkey produced 3 million metric tons of crude steel in May this year, with a two percent decrease from the same month in 2012. Meanwhile, Iran's crude steel production in May this year amounted to 1.3 million mt, up 3.7 percent compared to May 2012.

The CIS registered a crude steel output of 9.45 million mt in May, down 1.7 percent year on year, with Russia producing 6.1 million mt, increasing 0.2 percent compared to May 2012, and Ukraine producing 2.8 million mt, down 6.5 percent on year-on-year basis.

In North America in May, crude steel output totaled 10.2 million mt, down five percent year on year, with the US producing 7.5 million mt and Mexico producing 1.5 million mt, down 4.9 percent and 4.2 percent respectively on year-on-year basis.

Meanwhile, crude steel output in South America in May amounted to 4 million mt, up by 2.1 percent year on year, with Brazil's output totaling 3 million mt, up 5.5 percent year on year.

In May this year, the average capacity utilization of steel mills across the globe was 79.6 percent, nearly unchanged compared to 80.0 percent in April this year, and down 0.9 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

The top 10 crude steel producing countries in the first five months of 2013 are as follows:

Tonnages (x 1,000 mt)