Global raw steel production through the first half of 2026 is barely changed from January-June 2025, with 931.5 million metric tons of output across the 69 countries reporting to the World Steel Assn. That represents a -0.7% drop in production versus the first half of last year.

More specifically, during June global steel production totaled 155.7 million metric tons, a -1.4% drop from the May total, and just -0.3% less than the June 2025 result.

World Steel Assn.’s monthly report tracks 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.) The trade association has forecast tepid growth in steel consumption for 2026 due to a range of depressive factors, including weakness in Chinese demand and regional conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Various factors shape the global steel production total, and in the past year the major change has been the sustained effect of a 50% U.S. tariff on steel imports. That development has stabilized U.S. steelmakers’ production volumes and lifted the domestic industry to third-largest in the world.

China remains the world’s largest steelmaking nation - it has produced almost 54.0% of the total global tonnage YTD - and the scale of its output bears heavily on global market results. China’s prolonged real estate slump continues to depress steel demand there. Steelmakers there produced 83.7 million metric tons of raw steel during June, -0.8% less than in May but 0.4% more than in June 2025. The January-June total for raw steel production in China is 500.0 million metric tons is -3.0% less than the comparable result for 2025.

The comparatively small Indian steel industry produced 14.1 million metric tons in June, unchanged from May but 4.5% more than in June 2025. India’s steelmakers have produced 87.0 million metric tons for the January-June period, 7.1% more than last year. The industry is thriving on strong domestic infrastructure and economic growth, paced by significant government investment in infrastructure.

U.S. steelmakers produced 7.2 million metric tons (  million short tons) of raw steel during June, -4.2% less than in May but that total is 3.5% more than the June 2025 result. Current U.S. steel demand is driven by rising automotive and industrial demand, though construction activity is less than robust.

Through the first half of this year, U.S. steelmakers have produced 42.8 million metric tons of raw steel ( million short tons), 6.3% more than during January-June 2025.

Japan’s industry produced 6.8 million metric tons of raw steel during June, -2.9% less than in May but 1.3% more than in June 2025. Industrial and automotive manufacturing is sufficient to keep Japan’s domestic steel demand steady if not growing.

The fifth-largest steelmaking nation is Russia, where the estimated steel output for June was 5.6 million metric tons, unchanged from the May report and -3.4% less than the June 2025 result. With limited steel exporting opportunities due to trade embargos, Russian producers are relying on domestic construction and industrial demand, including machinery production and oil-and-gas extraction and processing - though high domestic interest rates are limiting investments.

Russia’s YTD output is estimated at 32.1 million metric tons, -8.4% less than during the first six months of last year.

In the European Union’s 27 nations, June raw steel output was 10.8 million metric tons, which is 4.6% higher than in June 2025; and the YTD total is 65.4 million metric tons, down just -0.3% from last year’s comparable total.

These EU totals include Germany, now the eighth-largest steelmaking nation, where 2.9 million metric tons produced during June were down -10.3% from May but are 9.5% more than last June’s total. The 18.6 million metric tons produced YTD in Germany are an 8.9% increase over January-June 2025.

EU industry, and particularly German industry, is gradually recovering from the poor results of 2025, although overall steel demand remains tepid due to slow construction activity and high energy costs.