Global crude steel production, as reported by the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association, was 148.3-million tonnes – a 4.1% increase compared with April 2017.
China’s crude steel production for April was 76.7-million tonnes, an increase of 4.8% compared with April 2017.
Japan produced 8.7-million tonnes of crude steel in April, down 0.4% year-on-year, while India produced 8.7-million tonnes of crude steel, a 5.6% year-on-year increase.
South Korea also boasted an increase of 7.1% year-on-year to 5.9-million tonnes of crude steel.
In the European Union, Italy produced 2.1-million tonnes of crude steel, up by 3.7% on that of April 2017.
France achieved the highest increase at 10.7%, with output at 1.4-million tonnes in April.
Spain produced 1.3-million tonnes of crude steel, a 7.5% year-on-year increase, while Turkey’s crude steel production for April was three-million tonnes, down by 3.1% year-on-year.
Crude steel production in Ukraine was 1.7-million tonnes, up 6% compared with that of April 2017.
The US produced 6.9-million tonnes of crude steel in April, an increase of 3.6% year-on-year.
Brazil’s crude steel production for April was three-million tonnes, up by 1.9% on that of April 2017.
The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 64 countries in April was 76.9%, 2.4 percentage points higher than April 2017.
It is also 2.4 percentage points higher than in March.