Primary steel production decreased 2.2% worldwide from June to July, totaling 133 million metric tons in the latest month. That figure also represents a 3.8% decrease compared to the July 2014 result, and brings the current year’s total raw steel volume (January-July 2015) to 948 million metric tons.
It is the fifth monthly decline of the current year, and the cumulative total indicates a decline of 1.85% compared to the comparable seven-month period of 2014.
All the figures are supplied by the World Steel Association, the trade association for steelmakers in 65 nations. Its monthly report includes production and capacity utilization data for raw steel — the output of basic oxygen furnaces and electric arc furnaces, prior to alloying and casting into semi-finished products, such as slabs, blooms, or billets. World Steel Assn. results include data for carbon and carbon alloy steel output. Stainless steels and other specialty alloy steels are not included.
The global raw-steel capacity utilization rate for July 2015 was 68.4%, a drop of 3.8% from June’s rate, and of 4.2% from the July 2014 rate.
In China, July steel output slipped 4.5% from June’s tonnage to 65.8 million metric tons. While still the world’s largest steelmaking nation by far, China’s producers are enduring the effects of the central government’s effort to eliminate outdated and excess steelmaking capacity, as well as the broader effects of reduced stimulus spending to maintain growth in that economy. The current monthly tonnage represents a 4.6% decline from the July 2014 result, and brings the China’s year-to-date raw steel production to 476 million metric tons — 1.22% less than the January-July 2015 total.
The full report is available at IndustryWeek.com's affiliate site, AmericanMachinist.com
