Global steel production rose nearly 6 percent in June

World steel production in 64 countries representing the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 151.4 million tonnes in June 2018, up 5.8% from June 2017.

Global steel production was 881.5 million tonnes in the first half of 2018, up 4.6% year-on-year. Asia produced 613.9 million tonnes of steel, up 5.2% from the first half of 2017. 87.3 million tons of steel were smelted in the first half of 2018, which is 1.6% more compared to the same period in 2017. North American steel production in 1H 2018 was 59.0 Mt, up 2.4% from 1H 2017. In the first six months of 2018, 50.5 million tons of steel were produced in the CIS, which is 2.8% more than in the same months of 2017.

China's crude steel production in June 2018 was 80.2 million tonnes, up 7.5% on June 2017. In June 2018, Japan produced 8.8 million tons of steel, which is 4.2% more than in June 2017. In June 2018, India produced 8.7 million tonnes of steel, up 7.4% on June 2017. Steel production in South Korea in June 2018 amounted to 6.1 million tons, which is 3.2% more than in June 2017.

In the EU, Italy produced 2.1 million tonnes of crude steel, up 1.5% on June 2017. France produced 1.3 million tonnes of crude steel, down 4.4% on June 2017.

Steel production in Turkey in June 2018 amounted to 3.0 million tons, which is 0.7% more than in June 2017.

Steel production in Ukraine this month amounted to 1.7 million tons, which is 7.5% more than in June 2017.

In June 2018, the United States produced 6.8 million tonnes of crude steel, up 0.8% on June 2017.

The capacity utilization rate for steel production in 64 countries was 78.5% in June 2018. This is 3.8 percentage points higher than in June 2017. Compared to May 2018, it is 1.0 percentage points higher.