World crude steel production was 155.7 million tonnes in April 2025, down 0.3 percent on the year, the World Steel Association reported in late May 2025. The near-flat result masked diverging trends: output held up in the United States and India, while China and several European producers cut back amid weak demand and the first effects of the new US tariffs. The figures arrived in an unusually uncertain environment. The World Steel Association held back its usual spring Short Range Outlook for steel demand, saying the escalation of the global trade war made a reliable forecast impossible, and trade journals reported that producers were reassessing investment plans while waiting to see how the tariff disputes would settle. With April output barely changed on the year, the first four months of 2025 pointed to a market stuck between soft construction demand in China, high energy costs in Europe and a policy-driven reshaping of trade flows.
Source: World Steel Association — https://worldsteel.org/media/press-releases/2025/
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