Global steel production rises in May: Correction

Corrects US steel production falingl to 11mn st in paragraph three

Global steel production rose by 5.4pc on the year to 162.7mn t in May, buoyed by a significant increase in Asian output, the latest data from the World Steel Association show.

Steel production in Asia reached 117.3mn t in May, up from 109mn t in the same month last year. Chinese output grew in particular, up by just over 8mn t to 89.1mn t.

Concerns over global steel oversupply have been exacerbated by China's increasing yield. But the latest sweeping production cuts in Tangshan may help to alleviate the pressure in the coming months.

US output also increased in May, to 7.7mn t, up from 7.3mn t a year earlier. But last week Pittsburgh-based steelmaker US Steel announced plans to idle two blast furnaces at Great Lakes Works in Michigan and Gary Works in Indiana. The producer expects its flat-rolled steel shipments to third party customers to drop to about 11mn st if the furnaces remain idled for the rest of this year.

Production from the EU dwindled to 14.5mn t in May from 14.9mn t a year earlier, aided by production cuts from Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal. Steel associations have called for further production cuts to ease the supply glut.