London, 20 August (Argus) — Global steel production increased in July, both month-on-month and year-on-year, led by rising Chinese output. But EU production continued to slide, according to Worldsteel data.
World crude steel production was 132mn t last month, up from 131.6mn t in June and 3.5mn t — or 2.7pc — higher than in July 2012.
The year-on-year production rise can be attributed largely to China, which also continued to account for just under half of world production. Chinese production totalled 65.5mn t last month, or 49.5pc of global output, an increase of 6.2pc on July 2012 and up from 64.7mn t in June.
By contrast, production was lower across much of the rest of the world. EU member states produced 13.4mn t in July, down from 14.3mn t the previous month and a 6pc year-on-year fall. Year-on-year, German, French and Spanish output fell by 5.4pc, 9pc and 3.4pc, respectively.
Russia produced 5.7mn t in July, effectively unchanged month on month but down by 2.4pc from a year earlier. Turkish output dropped by 10.1pc year on year to 2.8mn t, while South Korean production totalled 5.6mn t, a 5.8pc drop since last year.
But the US and Japan logged modest increases compared with last year. US output increased by 3.3pc year on year to 7.6mn t, which was also higher than the 7.2mn t produced in June. And Japan's 9.3mn t production last month was 0.5pc above July 2012 and steady to June this year.
The EU's steel production continued to contract despite the latest Eurostat data showing a 0.3pc increase in eurozone GDP during the second quarter. And the EU's manufacturing output expanded for the first time in two years in July, according to Australian bank Macquarie. But the bank emphasised that further eurozone recovery will probably further boost global steel demand, both through direct consumption and the import of manufactured goods.
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