In nearly every steelmaking region and major
producing country detailed by World Steel, tons of steel output leveled off
during the third quarter of 2022, apparently adapting to reduced demand amid
slower industrial activity, rising energy costs, and complicating factors such
as unreliable supply chains and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The 2022 output trend runs counter to the mid-range
forecast issued by World Steel during Q2, which called for global
steel consumption to be even with 2021 results, even accounting for weaker
steel demand.
The World Steel Association – which reports raw-steel
production for 64 countries – earlier
this year forecast that global steel consumption would remain
about even with 2021 levels, even while acknowledging various sources of global
economic uncertainty.
Chinese steel output totaled 83.9 million metric
tons during August, improving slightly (+0.03%) over July and over August 2021
(+0.05%), but in 2022 that industry is the object of central planning efforts
to minimize steel production as a measure to contain excess manufacturing
output and to minimize real-estate inflation. Through eight months of activity,
Chinese steelmakers have produced 693.2 million metric tons of raw steel –
which is -5.7% less than the January-August 2021 total.
Though significantly smaller, the Indian steel
industry has shown steady growth during 2022 – with 10.2 million tons of output
during August. That total is even (+0.01%) with July’s result and +1.20% higher
than the August 2021 result, and it brings India’s YTD output to 83.5 million
metric tons, +7.1% higher than the comparable figure for 2021.
Japanese steelmakers produced 7.3 million metric
tons of raw steel during August, the same total as in July, but that results in
a -7.40% drop from the August 2021 tonnage, and it brings the year-to-date
total to 60.7 million metric tons – a -5.20% drop from last year’s eight-month
total.
The U.S. steel industry is the world’s fourth
largest by output, and it produced 7.0 million metric tons (7.7 million short
tons) during August, the same as in July, but -7.10% less than during August
2021. U.S. steelmakers have produced 54.9 million metric tons (60.5 million
short tons) through eight months of 2022 – which is -3.70% less than last
year’s January-August total.
World Steel’s monthly summaries track carbon steel
output from in basic-oxygen or electric ar