China produces 49.11 pct of global crude steel in August - WSA
Shanghai. September 22. INTERFAX-CHINA - China's crude steel output in August stood at 52.33 million tons, accounting for 49.11 percent of the world's total, according to a World Steel Association (WSA) announcement on Sept. 21.
In August, almost all the major steel producing countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the United States and Brazil, recorded their highest monthly figures so far this year.
China's monthly crude steel output in August was 22 percent higher than the same month in 2008 and grew by 3.26 percent from the previous month.
Overall, the 66 countries reporting to the WSA produced 106.49 million tons of crude steel in August, growing by 2.5 percent from the previous month but dropping by 5.5 percent on an annual basis.
With the exception of the European Union, the CIS and Africa, all regions witnessed production increases on a monthly basis in August, with the most significant increase of 29.35 percent recorded in the Oceania region.
Meanwhile, global crude steel production in the first eight months of this year amounted to 759.50 million tons, dropping by 18.1 percent year-on-year. The most significant falls were seen in North America, Oceania, and the European Union.
Asia, the world's largest crude steel producing region, produced 70.85 million tons of crude steel in August and 449.90 million tons during the first eight months of 2009.
The following table shows global crude steel output figures in August and the first eight months of 2009.
Global crude steel output, August and the first eight months of 2009
| Region | Output, Aug 2009 ('000 tons) | M-o-m change (%) | Output, Jan - Aug 2009 ('000 tons) | Y-o-y change (%) |
| European Union (27) | 10,751 | -4.14 | 84,222 | -41 |
| Non-EU European countries | 2,625 | 2.70 | 18,327 | -18.8 |
| CIS (6) | 8,340 | -0.01 | 60,806 | -29.3 |
| North America | 7,177 | 0.84 | 49,663 | -46.5 |
| South America | 3,580 | 5.89 | 22,649 | -32.4 |
| Africa | 1,202 | -0.25 | 9,543 | -21.8 |
| Middle East | 1,393 | 7.07 | 11,069 | 2.2 |
| Asia | 70,848 | 3.67 | 449,897 | -4.1 |
| Oceania | 573 | 29.35 | 3,320 | -43.4 |
| Total (66) | 106,489 | 2.50 | 759,497 | -18.1 |
Source: WSA
Note: Monthly changes were calculated using the statistics previously released by the WSA.
-GD