Global Crude Steel Production in September Declined by 4.7% Year-on-Year

On October 22, the World Steel Association (WSA) released data on global crude steel production for September 2024. In September, crude steel production in 71 countries and regions included in the WSA’s statistics amounted to 143.6 million tonnes, a year-on-year decrease of 4.7%. From January to September, crude steel production in these 71 countries and regions totaled 1.394 billion tonnes, down 1.9% year-on-year.

Regionally, in September, Africa produced 1.9 million tonnes of crude steel, up 2.6% year-on-year; Asia and Oceania produced 105.3 million tonnes, down 5.0%; the European Union (27 countries) produced 10.5 million tonnes, up 0.3%; other European countries produced 3.6 million tonnes, up 4.1%; the Middle East produced 3.5 million tonnes, down 23%; North America produced 8.6 million tonnes, down 3.4%; Russia and other CIS countries plus Ukraine produced 6.8 million tonnes, down 7.6%; and South America produced 3.5 million tonnes, up 3.3%.

Among the world’s top 10 steel-producing countries/regions, in September, mainland China produced 77.07 million tonnes of crude steel, down 6.1% year-on-year; India produced 11.7 million tonnes, down 0.2%; the United States produced 6.7 million tonnes, up 1.2%; Japan produced 6.6 million tonnes, down 5.8%; Russia’s estimated crude steel production was 5.6 million tonnes, down 10.3%; South Korea produced 5.5 million tonnes, up 1.3%; Turkey produced 3.1 million tonnes, up 6.5%; Germany produced 3.0 million tonnes, up 4.3%; Brazil produced 2.8 million tonnes, up 9.9%; and Iran’s estimated crude steel production was 1.5 million tonnes, down 41.2%.

In September, regarding blast furnace pig iron production, the 37 countries/regions included in the global statistics produced 99.84 million tonnes of pig iron, a year-on-year decrease of 5.7%. Regionally, the EU (27 countries) produced 4.94 million tonnes, down 4.5%; other European countries produced 1.1 million tonnes, up 3.1%; Russia and other CIS countries plus Ukraine produced 5.02 million tonnes, down 3.4%; North America’s estimated pig iron production was 2.24 million tonnes, down 10.2%; South America produced 2.38 million tonnes, down 0.8%; Asia produced 83.5 million tonnes (with mainland China producing 66.76 million tonnes), down 6.7%; and Oceania produced 0.24 million tonnes, down 22.5%. From January to September 2024, global pig iron production totaled 954 million tonnes, down 3.3% year-on-year.

In September, the production of direct-reduced iron (DRI) in 13 countries amounted to 10.22 million tonnes, a year-on-year decrease of 2.4%. Among them, India produced 4.48 million tonnes of DRI, up 8.2% year-on-year; Iran produced 2.91 million tonnes, down 8.0%. From January to September, the production of DRI in these 13 countries totaled 92 million tonnes, up 4.2% year-on-year.