Global Steel Output Drops Again

Raw steel production fell to 142.7 million metric tons worldwide during February, a -9.8% decrease from the January output and a -5.7% year-over-year drop from February 2021. Through two months of production, global raw-steel output is 299.4 million metric tons, -5.5% less than last year’s comparable figure. With fewer days of production activity, February results are often an outlier in global production statistics. Still, data reported by the World Steel Association continues to reflect the trend of consistently declining output by Chinese steel producers, who comprise half or more of all the steel output on a regular basis. The same statistics show steadily expanding steel output by steelmakers in India and the U.S., among other places.