April 2018 world crude steel production up 4.1%, says worldsteel

World crude steel production was 148.3Mt in April 2018, an increase of 4.1% compared to April 2017, according to figures submitted by the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel). 

China’s crude steel production for April 2018 was 76.7 Mt, up 4.8% compared to last year’s figure. Japan produced 8.7 Mt of crude steel in April 2018, down 0.4% and India produced 8.7 Mt, an increase of 5.6%. South Korea’s crude steel production was 5.9 Mt in April 2018, an increase of 7.1% on the previous year.

In the EU, Italy produced 2.1 Mt of crude steel, up by 3.7% on April 2017. France produced 1.4 Mt of crude steel, up by 10.7% and Spain produced 1.3 Mt, up by 7.5%. 
 
Turkey’s crude steel production for April 2018 was 3.0 Mt, down by 3.1% on April 2017.
 
Crude steel production in Ukraine was 1.7 Mt this month, up 6.0% on April 2017.
 
The US produced 6.9 Mt of crude steel in April 2018, an increase of 3.6% while the Brazilians produced 3.0 Mt, up 1.9%.
 
The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 64 countries reporting to worldstee in April 2018 was 76.9%, which is 2.4 percentage points higher than April 2017. Compared to March 2018, it is 2.4 percentage points higher.