World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 154.9 million tonnes in May 2018, a 6.6% increase compared to May 2017. While Chinese steelmills, to maximize their margins with current elevated prices, pumped 81.127 million tonnes crude steel in May 2018 up by 8.9% YoY, crude steel production in Japan, buoyed by strong domestic demand, also recovered in May 2018 to 9.093 million tonnes displacing India, which produced 8.822 million tonnes, to retake second spot.
Regionwise Details
| Region | May'17 | May'18 | YoY | Jan-May'17 | Jan-May'18 | YoY |
| Total 64 countries | 145 237 | 154 856 | 6.6% | 696 184 | 727 979 | 4.6% |
| Asia | 101 047 | 108 814 | 7.7% | 480 093 | 504 121 | 5.0% |
| European Union (28) | 14 714 | 14 979 | 1.8% | 71 785 | 73 069 | 1.8% |
| North America | 9 691 | 10 107 | 4.3% | 47 985 | 49 465 | 3.1% |
| C.I.S. (6) | 8 221 | 9 035 | 9.9% | 41 260 | 42 403 | 2.8% |
| South America | 3 734 | 3 522 | -5.7% | 17 824 | 18 353 | 3.0% |
| Other Europe | 3 569 | 3 614 | 1.3% | 16 460 | 17 297 | 5.1% |
| Middle East | 2 600 | 2 995 | 15.2% | 12 831 | 14 625 | 14.0% |
| Africa | 1 168 | 1 216 | 4.1% | 5 574 | 5 955 | 6.8% |
| Oceania | 492 | 574 | 16.5% | 2 372 | 2 691 | 13.4% |
In ‘000 tonnes
Source – worldsteel
Top 25 Countries
| Rank | Country | May'17 | May'18 | YoY | Jan-May'17 | Jan-May'18 | YoY |
| 1 | China | 74 491 | 81 127 | 8.9% | 347 714 | 368 622 | 6.0% |
| 2 | Japan | 8 929 | 9 093 | 1.8% | 43 914 | 44 217 | 0.7% |
| 3 | India | 8 199 | 8 822 | 7.6% | 42 155 | 44 123 | 4.7% |
| 4 | United States | 6 901 | 7 107 | 3.0% | 33 884 | 34 846 | 2.8% |
| 5 | Russia | 5 877 | 6 230 | 6.0% | 29 452 | 30 027 | 2.0% |
| 6 | South Korea | 6 046 | 6 227 | 3.0% | 28 864 | 29 940 | 3.7% |
| 7 | Germany | 3 801 | 3 900 | 2.6% | 18 618 | 18 685 | 0.4% |
| 8 | Turkey | 3 308 | 3 325 | 0.5% | 15 193 | 15 850 | 4.3% |
| 9 | Brazil | 2 931 | 2 678 | -8.6% | 14 069 | 14 272 | 1.4% |
| 10 | Italy | 2 102 | 2 180 | 3.7% | 10 266 | 10 663 | 3.9% |
| 11 | Iran | 1 793 | 2 015 | 12.4% | 8 162 | 10 142 | 24.3% |
| 12 | Mexico | 1 741 | 1 800 | 3.4% | 8 347 | 8 746 | 4.8% |
| 13 | Ukraine | 1 647 | 1 695 | 2.9% | 8 644 | 8 680 | 0.4% |
| 14 | Taiwan, China | 2 004 | 1 715 | -14.4% | 9 692 | 8 481 | -12.5% |
| 15 | France | 1 425 | 1 333 | -6.5% | 6 592 | 6 709 | 1.8% |
| 16 | Spain | 1 249 | 1 337 | 7.0% | 6 131 | 6 248 | 1.9% |
| 17 | Canada | 1 001 | 1 145 | 14.3% | 5 512 | 5 620 | 2.0% |
| 18 | Vietnam (2) | 755 | 1 030 | 36.4% | 3 969 | 4 722 | 19.0% |
| 19 | Poland | 881 | 855 | -3.0% | 4 274 | 4 357 | 1.9% |
| 20 | Belgium | 705 | 685 | -2.8% | 3 340 | 3 365 | 0.8% |
| 21 | Austria | 715 | 709 | -0.8% | 3 429 | 3 348 | -2.4% |
| 22 | United Kingdom | 617 | 582 | -5.7% | 3 235 | 3 204 | -1.0% |
| 23 | Egypt | 575 | 626 | 8.8% | 2 761 | 3 157 | 14.4% |
| 24 | Netherlands | 616 | 624 | 1.4% | 2 838 | 2 950 | 3.9% |
| 25 | South Africa | 554 | 568 | 2.6% | 2 620 | 2 650 | 1.1% |
In ‘000 tonnes
Source – worldsteel
The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 64 countries in May 2018 was 77.7%. This is 4.2 percentage points higher than May 2017. Compared to April 2018, it is 1.0 percentage point higher.
