World Steel Production Slumps in December

World crude steel production fell 10.8% to 140.7 million tonnes in December compared to the same month the previous year, according to a release from the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

For the top five steel-producing nations, China produced 77.9 million tonnes in December, down 9.8% from a year earlier; India, up 0.8% to 10.6 million tonnes; Japan, down 13.1% to 6.9 million tonnes; the US, down 8.3% to 6.5 million tonnes; and Russia, down 11.3% to 5.5 million tonnes.