Crude steel production for the 62 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 132 million tonnes (Mt) in March 2012, an increase of 1.8% compared to March 2011. Production for the first quarter of 2012 was 377 Mt, 1.1% higher than the first quarter of 2011.
In the first three months of 2012, Asia produced 241.7 Mt of crude steel, an increase of 1.5% over the first quarter of 2011. The EU produced 43.9 Mt of crude steel in the first quarter of 2012, down 3.9% compared to the same quarter of 2011. North America’s crude steel production in the first three months of 2012 was 31.2 Mt, 6.7% higher than the first three months of 2011.
China’s crude steel production for March 2012 was 61.6 Mt, an increase of 3.9% compared to March 2011.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 9.3 Mt of crude steel, up by 2.3% compared to the same month last year. South Korea’s crude steel production for March 2012 was 6.0 Mt, an increase of 3.2%.
In the EU, Germany produced 3.9 Mt of crude steel, a decrease of 3.1% on March 2011. Italy’s crude steel production for March 2012 was 2.7 Mt, up by 4.5%. In March 2012, France produced 1.5 Mt of crude steel, an increase of 3.8% compared to March 2011. Spain’s crude steel production for March 2012 was 1.3 Mt, down by 19.5%.
Turkey’s crude steel production for March 2012 was 3.1 Mt, an increase of 14.5% compared to March 2011.
The U.S. produced 7.8 Mt of crude steel, up by 5.4% on March 2011.
Brazil’s crude steel production for March 2012 was 3.1 Mt, 2.2% higher than a year ago.
The world crude steel capacity utilization ratio of the 62 countries in March 2012 increased to 81.1%, 1.6 percentage points higher than February 2012. Compared to March 2011, the utilization ratio in March 2012 decreased by 1.2 percentage points.
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is one of the largest industry associations in the world, representing approximately 170 steel producers (including 17 of the world's 20 largest steel companies), national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. worldsteel members produce around 85% of the world's steel.