Global crude steel output in the first half of this year was 925.1 million tons, China accounts for 53.2%!

According to the World Steel Association (WSA) report, in June 2019, crude steel production in 64 countries worldwide was 159 million tons, an increase of 4.6% year-on-year. Global crude steel production in the first half of the year was 925.1 million tons, up 4.9% year-on-year.

In the first half of 2019, the crude steel output in Asia was 660.2 million tons, up 7.4% year-on-year. In the EU region, crude steel production in the first half of 2019 was 84.7 million tons, down 2.5% year-on-year. In North America, crude steel production in the first half of 2019 was 60.1 million tons, up 1.4% year-on-year. The CIS crude steel output in the first half of 2019 was 50.5 million tons, which was flat year-on-year.

In the first half of the year, China's crude steel output was 492 million tons, an increase of 9.9% year-on-year, and the proportion of global crude steel production increased to 53.2%. After deducting China, crude steel production in other countries in the world fell by 0.3% year-on-year in the first half of the year.

China's crude steel output in June 2019 was 87.5 million tons, up 10.0% year-on-year. India's crude steel output in June was 9.3 million tons, up 4.0% year-on-year. Japan's crude steel output in June was 8.8 million tons, down 0.4% year-on-year. South Korea's crude steel output in June was 6 million tons, down 2.6% year-on-year.

In the EU region, Germany's crude steel output in June 2019 was 3.4 million tons, down 5.8% year-on-year; Italy's crude steel output in June was 2.1 million tons, down 2.5% year-on-year; France's June crude steel output was 1.3 million tons, up from the same period last year. 3.4%; Spain's crude steel output in June was 1.2 million tons, up 2.3% year-on-year.

US crude steel production in June 2019 was 7.3 million tons, up 3.1% year-on-year. Brazil's crude steel output in June 2019 was 2.8 million tons, down 3.1% year-on-year. Turkey's crude steel output in June 2019 was 2.7 million tons, down 11.0% year-on-year. Ukraine's crude steel output in June 2019 was 1.7 million tons, down 3.0% year-on-year.

In the first half of the year, the growth rate of global crude steel output of 4.9% was inseparable from the sharp increase in China's crude steel output. In the first half of 2019, the top ten crude steel producers outside the world increased by only 0.23%. In terms of sub-regions, crude steel production in Asia, the Middle East and Africa was only growing in June this year; other crude steel production in Europe, the CIS and North and South America declined to varying degrees. Factors such as the Brexit and the tightening of the international trade environment have led to a slight weakness in the global economy. In this context, steel demand growth in countries around the world has slowed. According to a report released by the International Monetary Fund, the global economy is forecast to grow by 3.2% this year. The growth rate dropped by 0.4 percentage points from the previous year.

The rapid growth of steel production capacity has led to an increase in production efficiency. According to the China Iron and Steel Association, non-member companies produced 12.843 million tons of steel in the first half of 2019, an increase of 53.43 million tons from the second half of 2017, an increase of 71.24%. Whether these new capacity is in compliance and whether it meets industrial policies and environmental protection policies needs to be clarified. At the same time, China Steel Association said that in the third quarter of this year, it will carry out supervision and inspection of the elimination of backward and resolving excess capacity.