Through June 30, year-to-date global raw steel production stands at 954.6 million metric tons, unchanged from the same date of one year ago, with declining output in most of the world’s largest steelmaking nations. Total global production for the month of June was 161.4 million, down -2.3% from May but slightly above (+0.5%) higher than the tonnage recorded for June 2023.
Data on raw steel production for 71 countries is reported monthly by the World Steel Association.
The global steel industry is coping with a range of issues undermining industrial and construction demand, the most pressing of which apparently is persistent inflation and high interest rates. When the World Steel Assn. issued a semi-annual outlook report for steel demand, it predicted that total demand for 2024 will rise just +1.7% to 1.793 billion metric tons over 2023, about 19 million metric tons less the outlook report issued six months earlier. That forecast also anticipates a more delayed recovery, with demand growing just 1.2% to 1.815 billion metric tons in 2025.
As for the current production activity, China – which accounts for more than half of the world’s raw steel production – is trailing its own 2023 pace. China’s 91.6 million metric tons produced during June is a drop of -1.4% from May and virtually even (+0.2) with June 2023. The January-June total for Chinese raw steel production is 530.6 million metric tons, or -1.1% less than last year’s comparable figure.
India’s steel industry continues to counter the trend, with June output ticking up 0.8% from May to 12.3 million metric tons – a total that is 6.0% higher than last June’s total and it raises the country's YTD output to 74.2 million metric tons, 7.4% higher than last year’s six-month result.
In Japan, June raw steel production slipped to 7.0 million metric tons, -2.9% from May and -4.2% from June 2023. The new year-to-date total of 42.7 million metric tons is a -2.6% decrease versus the same period from 2023.
U.S. steelmakers’ June output totaled 6.7 million metric tons (7.4 million short tons), -3.0% lower than the volume reported for May and -1.5% less than the June 2023 tonnage. It brings the U.S. industry’s year-to-date output to 40.0 million metric tons (44.1 million short tons), which is -2.4% less than the January-June 2023 total.
The World Steel Assn.’s monthly summary reports the totals for carbon steel produced in basic-oxygen or electric arc furnaces and cast into semi-finished forms like billets for bar and rod products; slabs for flat products; or blooms, for beam and pipe products. Specialty and stainless steel volumes are not included.
