World crude steel production reached 1.662 million tonnes (Mt) for the year 2014, up 1.2% compared to 2013, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
A headline take away in 2014, was the rise of the Middle East in the final numbers – despite being the smallest region for crude steel production, the region had the most robust growth.
Crude steel production in the EU, North America and Asia grew modestly in 2014 compared to 2013, while in the CIS and South America it decreased.
Annual production for Asia was 1.132.3 Mt of crude steel in 2014, an increase of 1.4% compared to 2013. China’s crude steel production in 2014 reached 822.7 Mt, an increase of 0.9% on 2013, though its share of global crude steel production decreased from 49.7% in 2013 to 49.5% in 2013.
This regional breakdown also saw Japan produce 110.7 Mt in 2014, a 0.1% increase from 2013, and South Korea’s crude steel production grow 7.5% over 2013 to 71.0 Mt.
The fact that Asia continues to feature prominently in global crude steel production, reflects a recognised stabilising of the Chinese and wider Asian manufacturing sector last year, as well as a rise in oxygen capacity in the region gasworld understands, which correlates strongly with a rise in steel fabrication.
gasworld also understands that a desire exists in the Middle East market to diversify into industries such as glass, pharmaceuticals and metallurgy, exemplified by worldsteel’s latest figures and driving growing industrial gas intensity in the region.
In December 2014, world crude steel production for the 65 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 133.7 Mt, an increase of 0.1% compared to December 2013. The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 65 countries in December 2014 was 72.7%.
Source: http://www.gasworld.com/