Global steel production inched up slightly to 157.9 million metric tons in the latest monthly summary by the World Steel Assn., increasing just 4.5 million metric tons or 2.8% from April to May, across 70 countries. The new total is essentially even (-0.3%) with the April 2025 output, and it brings the year-to-date (January-May 2026) total to 773.1 million metric tons, or -1.5% less than last year’s five-month total.

The slow rate of growth is an apparent response to weak demand. World Steel Assn. has forecast tepid growth in steel consumption for 2026 due to a range of depressive factors, including weakness in manufacturing and construction data in China and regional conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.

But the May 2026 totals also show stable activity in most of the world’s largest steelmaking nations, reconfirming trends playing out over the past year, one of which has seen U.S. raw steel production expanding under the tariff regime installed by the Trump Administration in April 2025. At the same time, Chinese raw steel output has been restrained by flagging industrial demand and construction activity in that market.

Chinese raw steel output continues to anchor global steel production, with the 84.4 million metric tons produced in May representing 53.5% of the world’s total. The new result is only 0.9% more than China’s total for April, and -2.7% less than the result for May 2025. Through the first five months of this year, Chinese steelmakers have produced 415.5 million metric tons, -3.9% less than their January-May 2025 output.

The second-largest steelmaking nation, India, produce 14.1 million metric tons of raw steel during May, 2.1% more than in April and 1.9% more than in May 2025. The nation’s steel output is increasing steadily, however, up to 72.9 million metric tons for the current year to-date, 7.8% more than during the same period of 2025.

The resiliency of the U.S. steel industry continues, with 7.5 million metric tons (  short tons) produced during May, 4.0% more than in April and 9.2% more than in May 2025. With 35.6 million metric tons (  short tons) produced YTD, the U.S. industry has increased its output 6.8% versus the same period of last year.

Japan’s steelmakers produced 7.0 million metric tons during May, 5.7% more than in April and 1.7% more than in May 2025. Their five-month production total for 2026 is 33.6 million metric tons, roughly equal (-0.7%) to the total for January-May 2025.

In South Korea, raw steel production totaled 5.4 million metric tons for May, 3.7% more than in April and 3.3% more than in May 2025. The YTD output is 26.4 million metric tons, 2.7% more than the total for the first five months of 2025.