Raw steel production declined to 135 million metric tons worldwide during April, down 1.76% from the March total and 0.43% less than the result for April 2015. For the first four months of this year, global steel tonnage is up to 521.3 million metric tons, which 2.46% less than the total tonnage for January-April 2015.
The figures are supplied by the World Steel Association and represent the total for raw steel production in its 66 member nations. The Brussels-based World Steel Assn. tracks raw (or ‘crude’) steel production and capacity utilization on a monthly basis.
Raw steel is the output of basic oxygen furnaces and electric arc furnaces that is cast into semi-finished products, such as slabs, blooms, or billets. The Association reports tonnage and capacity utilization data for carbon and carbon alloy steel; data for production of stainless and specialty alloy steels are not included.
During April, raw steel capacity utilization was 71.5% for the 66 countries — 0.8% higher than during March and 1.3% lower than April 2015. (Editor’s note: These figures are revised from the initial release issued by World Steel.)
The production totals generally confirm the recent forecast issued by World Steel, indicating declining demand worldwide for 2016. That study global steel demand will decline by 0.8% this year to an estimated 1.488 billion metric tons, following the 3.0% annual decline shown in the 2015 global steel production (1.62 billion metric tons.)
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