The most significant source for raw steel is China, which produces about one half of the world’s total. During July, Chinese producers’ 81.2 million metric tons of raw-steel output was an increase of 1.3% from June and of 7.2% from July 2017. For the year-to-date, China has produced 532.8 million metric tons of raw steel 6.9% more than during the comparable period of 2017.
In the EU, July raw-steel production declined 3.7% from June, to a total of 14.5 million metric tons across 28 nations. The latest monthly total for the region is nevertheless 3.9% higher than last July’s total, and it brings the year-to-date total for the region to 101.9 million tons, a 2.0% increase over 2017.
In the U.S. industry, July raw-steel production totaled 7.3 million metric tons (8.05 million short tons), up 3.1% from the June total and up 4.5% from the July 2017 result. For the year to date, U.S. steelmakers have produced 49.3 million metric tons (54.3 million short tons) of raw steel, an increase of 3.6% over 2017’s January-June total.
