March 2016 crude steel production

World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 137 million tonnes (Mt) in March 2016, a -0.5% decrease compared to March 2015.

World crude steel production was 385.7 Mt in the first three months of 2016, down by -3.6% compared to the same period in 2015. Asia produced 263.6 Mt of crude steel, a decrease of -3.1% over the first quarter of 2015. The EU produced 40.9 Mt of crude steel in the first quarter of 2016, down by -7.0% compared to the same quarter of 2015. North America’s crude steel production in the first three months of 2016 was 27.5 Mt, a decrease of -1.1% compared to the first quarter of 2015. The C.I.S. produced 25.0 Mt of crude steel in the first three months of 2016, a decrease of -0.4% over the same months of 2015.

China’s crude steel production for March 2016 was 70.7 Mt, an increase of 2.9% compared to March 2015. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.6 Mt of crude steel in March 2016, a decrease of -6.8% compared to March 2015. India’s crude steel production was 8.1 Mt in March 2016, up by 3.4% on March 2015.

In the EU, Germany produced 3.8 Mt of crude steel in March 2016, a decrease of -1.6% compared to March 2015. Italy produced 2.0 Mt of crude steel, down by -3.5% on March 2015. France produced 1.1 Mt of crude steel, down by -21.4% compared to March 2015.

Turkey’s crude steel production for March 2016 was 2.7 Mt, up by 1.3% on March 2015.

In March 2016, Russia produced 6.0 Mt of crude steel, down by -2.0% over March 2015. Ukraine produced 2.2 Mt of crude steel, up by 28.1% compared to the same month in 2015.

The US produced 6.7 Mt of crude steel in March 2016, an increase of 4.9% compared to March 2015.

Brazil’s crude steel production for March 2016 was 2.5 Mt, down by -9.5% on March 2015.

The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 66 countries in March 2016 was 70.5%. This is -1.3 percentage points lower than March 2015. Compared to February 2016, it is 3.9 percentage points higher.