Steel production rose again in September, both in the US and abroad.
At 74.8 million net tons, domestic raw steel production was 3.8% higher than a year ago for the year-to-date through Oct. 28, according to American Iron and Steel Institute statistics. Capability utilization was at 74.6% compared with 72.2% a year ago.
World crude steel production increased 5.6% to 141.4 million tonnes (Mt) in September from the same period in 2016, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) reported. Production also rose by 5.6% through the first nine months of 2017, reaching 1,266.9 Mt globally.
Strong production in China contributed to the overall increases. China’s production increased 5.3% to 71.8 Mt in September and 6.3% to 638.7 Mt for the first nine months.
The US produced 8.6% more, 6.7 Mt in total, of crude steel in September than it did last year. US production was up 3.1%, to 61.5 Mt for the first nine months, according to worldsteel.
Regionally, for the first nine months, crude steel production increased by:
- 2.0% in Oceania;
- 3.5% in North America;
- 4.1% in the European Union;
- 5.9% in Asia;
- 8.0% in South America;
- 13.5% in Other Europe countries;
- 13.8% in Africa; and
- 14.2% in the Middle East.
Steel production was flat (0.0 percent) in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Capacity utilization among the 66 countries that report to
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