Global Steel Drops for Third Straight Month

Global steel production fell by 4.8 million metric tons from July to August, down -3.3%, according to the monthly data issued by the World Steel Assn. It was the third consecutive monthly decline in output for steelmakers, continuing to indicate adjustments by major exporter nations since the implementation of U.S. tariffs in April.

It is important to note that August is typically a low-output month for raw steel, and the latest tonnage total is 0.3% higher than the August 2024 output. The 2025 year-to-date total of 1.23 billion metric tons of raw steel is just -1.7% less than the January-August 2024 result.

The global market has seen declining steel production in each of the past three years due to slow industrial and construction activity. The Russia-Ukraine conflict also slowed output and demand in that part of the world.

But the slow output had mainly been evident in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, where major producers restrained their output in efforts to minimize weakness in spot prices. Since April, the first full month following the tariffs’ implementation, global steel output has fallen four out of five months: Output in the Asia and Europe has dropped, but it is up slightly year-to-date in North America, presumably as steel importers confront theU.S. tariffs – first at 25% but since June 4 at 50%.

Raw-steel production data is reported by the World Steel Association, whose monthly summary covers the output from 70 countries that represent about 98% of global output. The organization also monitors steel consumption, but it suspended a regular outlook report in April due the uncertainty of the global market.

The drop in output is most evident in China, the world's largest steelmaking nation and a major exporter of semi-finished steel. In August, Chinese steelmakers produced 77.4 million metric tons, -3.0% from their July total and but down just -0.7% from August 2024. Through eight months of the current year, Chinese raw-steel production totals 671.8 million metric tons, or about 55.6% of the world’s total YTD output.

Indian steel production has expanded consistently over the past three years. In August, Indian steelmakers produced 14.1 million metric tons, up 0.7% from July and up 13.2% from August 2024. India’s eight-month output for raw steel is 108.9 million metric tons, 1.6% over last year’s comparable figure.

The third-largest steelmaking nation is Japan, where August production rose 4.2% from July to 7.2 million metric tons. That represents a 3.2% rise from August 2024, and it brings the January-August total to 54.6 metric tons, a 1.6% improvement over last year’s result.

U.S. steelmakers produced 6.6 million metric tons - 7.3 million short tons - during August, down 7.6% from July and down -3.4% from August 2024. The slower activity during August is typical, as automakers and other major consumers schedule downtimes for vacations, maintenance, retooling, and other objectives.  While North American steel production is up slightly (1.6%) for August and YTD (+0.6%), the U.S. data shows 54.1 million metric tons - 59.6 million short tons - for January-August, which is -4.5% less than last year’s result.

Russian steel output during August was estimated at 5.5 million metric tons, -3.6% less than July and -4.6% less than August 2024. The eight-month total for the current year is estimated at 46.1 million metric tons, down -4.8% from 2024.

Steel output also fell in South Korea during August, down -1.9% from July to 5.2 million metric tons. That is a -6.1% drop from August 2024, and it brings the YTD total to 41.1 million metric tons, or -3.5% lower than the eight-month total for last year.

Germany’s steel industry, the largest in Europe, produced 2.6 million metric tons during August, -3.8% less than in July and -10.5% less than in August 2024. Their YTD total is now 22.4 million metric tons, a drop of -11.9% from January-August 2024.

The monthly report by World Steel Assn. documents carbon steel produced in basic-oxygen or electric arc furnaces and cast into semi-finished forms like billets for bar and rod products; slabs for flat products; or blooms, for beam and pipe products. Specialty and stainless steel volumes are not included.