World crude steel production fell 6.5 percent year on year to 144.8 million tonnes in August 2024, the World Steel Association reported on 24 September. China produced 77.9 million tonnes in the month, down 10.4 percent on August 2023, the steepest fall among the leading producers. Output in the first eight months of the year totalled about 1.25 billion tonnes globally, down 1.5 percent, with China at 691.4 million tonnes, down 3.3 percent. China was joined by four of the other ten largest steelmaking countries in recording year-on-year declines: South Korea was down 5.5 percent, Russia 4.9 percent, Japan 2.9 percent and the United States 1.7 percent. The August figures showed the downturn spreading beyond China, as weak construction and manufacturing demand weighed on mills in most major producing countries, while only India, Turkiye and Brazil kept growing.
Source: World Steel Association — https://worldsteel.org/media/press-releases/2024/august-2024-crude-steel-production/
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (freely licensed).