Global steel production fell 8 per cent in 2009

China and India's steel industry withstood the onslaught of the global recession as worldwide steel production fell 8 per cent to reach a total production of 1,220 million metric tons (mmt) in 2009, the industry's trade body said late last week.

Brussels-based World Steel Association (WSA) said that steel production declined in nearly all the major steel producing countries and regions including the EU, North America, South America and the CIS in 2009, while China and India, and the Middle East showed positive growth in 2009.

In December 2009, world steel output for the 66 member-countries of the WSA was 106.4 mmt, an increase of 30.2 per cent compared to December 2008. Most major-steel producing countries showed two-digit growth in December 2009.

The world crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 66 countries in December 2009 was 71.5 per cent, a decrease from 74.7 per cent in November 2009. Compared to 2008, the utilisation ratio in December 2009 increased by 13.4 percentage points.

WSA, whose members produce around 85 per cent of the world's steel said that China's crude steel production in 2009 reached 567.8 mmt, an increase of 13.5 per cent on 2008. This is a record annual crude steel production figure for a single country.

China's share of world steel production continued to grow in 2009 producing 47 per cent of world total crude steel, an increase of 9 percentage points compared to 2008.

India's crude steel production was 56.6 mmt in 2009, a 2.8 per cent growth on 2008, while South Korea showed a decrease of -9.4 per cent, producing 48.6 mmt in 2009 and Japan, the second-largest steel producing country, produced 87.5 mmt in 2008, a decrease of -26.3 per cent on 2008.

Asia produced 795.4 mmt of crude steel in 2009, an increase of 3.5 per cent compared to 2008. Its share of world steel production increased to 65 per cent in 2009 from 58 per cent in 2008.

The EU-27 where all major steel producing countries including Germany, Italy and France showed substantial decline recorded a decrease of -29.7 per cent compared to 2008, producing 139.1 mmt of crude steel in 2009.

In 2009, crude steel production in North America was 82.3 mmt, a decrease of -33.9 per cent on 2008. The US produced 58.1 mmt of crude steel, 36.4 per cent lower than 2008.

The CIS showed a decrease of -14.7 per cent in 2009. Russia produced 59.9 mmt of crude steel, a -12.5 per cent reduction on 2008 while Ukraine recorded a decrease of -20.2 per cent with year-end figures of 29.8 mmt.

Top 10 steel-producing countries

Rank	Country	2009	2008	per cent 2009/2008
1	China	567.8	500.3	13.5
2	Japan	87.5	118.7	-26.3
3	Russia	59.9	68.5	-12.5
4	US	58.1	91.4	-36.4
5	India	56.6	55.1	2.7
6	South Korea	48.6	53.6	-9.4
7	Germany	32.7	45.8	-28.7
8	Ukraine	29.8	37.3	-20.2
9	Brazil	26.5	33.7	-21.4
10	Turkey	25.3	26.8	-5.6

The WSA is one of the largest industry associations in the world representing approximately 180 steel producers, including 19 of the world's 20 largest steel companies, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes.