Rebounding further in February, world steel output saw  an increase in production of 24.2% from the same month a year earlier, the World Steel Association said on March 22.

Output in the 66 countries reporting to the WSA came to 108 million tons last month compared with 87 million tons in February 2009.

In China, the world's largest producer, steel output rose 22.5% in February to 50.4 million tons.

In Europe, German production was up 34.4% to 3.4 million tons while the United States produced 6.0 million tons, up 51.3% from a year earlier.

The global steel industry operated at 79.8% of capacity in February, a 15-month high and up from 72.9% in January.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010