World crude steel production fell 5.7 percent year on year to 142.7 million tonnes in February 2022, the World Steel Association reported on 22 March. China produced 75.0 million tonnes, down 10.0 percent, still under winter output curbs and with construction demand soft. The figures were compiled just as Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, and they capture a market on the edge of disruption: within weeks, Ukrainian mills were shutting down, Russian exports were being sanctioned, and prices for pig iron, slab and hot-rolled coil were surging. The figures covered the 64 countries reporting to the association, about 98 percent of world output. February's numbers therefore mark the end of the pre-war market, the last monthly snapshot taken before the conflict became the dominant force in world steel, reshaping trade flows that had been stable for years.
Source: World Steel Association — https://worldsteel.org/media/press-releases/2022/
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