Global raw-steel production declined by 3.5 million metric tons, or -2.5%, from August to September, settling at 141.8 million metric tons as steelmakers continue to adjust their output to address ongoing weakness in demand as well as the more recent effects of the U.S. tariffs on imported steel. It was the fourth consecutive month-over-month decline.
The September total is -1.6% less than the year-ago result, and it brings the 2025 year-to-date volume of raw steel output to 1.37 billion metric tons, a -1.6% decrease from January-September 2024.
The data is provided by the World Steel Assn., which reports monthly raw-steel production for 70 countries.
Recently World Steel’s statistical arm forecast that global steel consumption for 2025 would total about 1.75 billion metric tons, which would be the fourth consecutive year of declining demand. There are various reasons for that weakness, principally the continuing decline in Chinese demand due to slow industrial and construction activities there, a trend that has been underway since 2021.
The advent of U.S. tariffs in April of this year - initially at 25%, now at 50% for almost all countries - have resulted in further declines in output among major steelmaking nations.
In China, the world’s largest producer and exporter of steel, the volume produced for September was 77.4 million metric tons, -5.3% less than August and -4.6% less than September 2024. The nine-month output for China’s industry this year is 746.3, which is -2.9% less than last year’s comparable total.
India is the world’s second-largest steelmaking nation, but its September total of 13.6 million metric tons was a -3.7% drop from August. Even so, that figure shows a 13.2% rise over August 2024, and it raises the annual output to 122.4 million metric tons, 10.5% higher than last year’s January-September result.
In Japan, which as of 2024 was the world’s second-largest steel exporter and the world’s third-largest producer, September raw-steel output was 6.4 million metric tons, -3.1% less than in August and -3.7% less than in September 2024. The country’s steelmakers have produced 60.5 million metric tons of raw steel through the first nine months of this year, a -4.5% drop from January-August 2024.
U.S. steelmakers produced 6.9 million metric tons (7.6 million short tons) of raw steel during September, -4.3% less than August but 6.7% more than in September 2024. The 61.4 million metric tons (67.7 million short tons) they have produced this year represent a 2.1% increase over last year’s nine-month result.
One apparent effect of the U.S. tariff program is that the nation’s steelmakers have absorbed some of the demand formerly met by imported steel – increasing their output enough to lift the U.S. industry past Japan’s to third in the global ranking.
Russian steel production is estimated at 5.2 million metric tons, down -5.8% from August and down -3.8% from September 2024. That country, where much of the export activity is constrained by embargoes since the start of the war in Ukraine, has an estimated year-to-date production volume of 51.3 million metric tons, -4.7% less than last year’s comparable total.
In South Korea, another major exporter of steel, the industry produced 5.0 million metric tons in September, -4.0% less than in August and -2.4% less than in last September. The nine-month output for 2025 is 46.1%, -3.4% lower than last year’s YTD total.
The Turkish steel industry produced 3.2 million metric tons in September, -6.2% less than in August but 3.3% more than in September 2024. The January-September result is nearly even with 2024, up just 0.6%.
The EU’s 27 nations produced 10.1 million metric tons during September, and their YTD total of 94.6 million metric tons is -3.7% less than last year. Within that, Germany contributed 3.0 million metric tons during September, and tor the world’s seventh-largest steelmaking nation that was a 13.3% improvement from August and only slightly less (-0.6%) than the September 2024 result. Germany’s year-to-date production totals 25.4 million metric tons, a -10.7% decrease from January-September 2024.
Brazil, again a significant exporter of steel, reported 2.8 million metric tons produced for September, -3.6% less than in August and -3.2% less than in September 2024. The nine-month total for this year is 25.0 million metric tons, -1.7% less than last year’s figure.
The tenth-largest steelmaking nation, Iran produced 2.3 million metric tons during September. That is a 30.4% improvement from August and a 6.0% rise over last September. The YTD total is 22.1 million metric tons, -2.7% less than last year.
The monthly World Steel report on raw-steel production documents 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.
About the Author
Robert Brooks
Content Director
Robert Brooks has been a business-to-business reporter, writer, editor, and columnist for more than 20 years, specializing in the primary metal and basic manufacturing industries.