As per World Steel Association (WSA) data, global steel production grew by meager 1.1% during the January-March period of the year to 376.76 million tonnes compared to the corresponding period last year. Global steel production was 372.77 million tonnes in the same period last year.
During March, the world steel production was at 132 million tonnes, an increase of 1.8% compared to March 2011. Asia produced nearly 56 per cent of the total output which stood at 241.7 million tonnes. The growth in Asia was 1.5%.
Among the Asian countries, China produced 174.21 million tonnes, recording a 2.5% growth. India’s output remained stagnant at 18 million tonnes. The European Union produced 43.9 million tonnes, down by 3.9%. Production in the US also grew by 8.3% to 23.01 million tonnes.
For the month of March, India’s production grew marginally to 6.2 million tonnes from 6.1 million tonnes in March last year. Compared to March 2011, the capacity utilisation ratio in March 2012 decreased by 1.2 percentage points.
WSA members produce 85% of the world’s steel.