Economy
June 29, 2020
Global Steel Production Through May
Written by Peter Wright
In May, China’s crude steel production hit 92.3 million metric tons, an all-time high, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
On June 24, the OECD released its updated report of steel production capacity by nation: “Global steelmaking capacity (in nominal crude terms) decreased from 2015 to 2018, but the latest available information (as of December 2019) suggests that capacity increased in 2019 for the first time since 2014. The OECD has revised its 2019 figures for global steelmaking capacity to 2,362.5 million metric tonnes (mmt) to incorporate new information on closures that was not previously available as well as updated information on the status of certain investment projects. Moreover, revisions to the aggregate capacity figures for the People’s Republic of China, the United States, Mexico, Japan, Korea and several other economies’ data contributed to the upward revision for 2019 and previous years. The net capacity change in 2019, taking into account new capacity additions and closures, represents a 1.5 percent increase from the level at the end of 2018.”
