World crude steel output by 64 countries stood at 169.2 mn t in Mar ’21 registering a surge of 15% against 146.88 mn t a year ago, as per the data released by World Steel Association.
Factors driving improved performance in Mar ’21-
- Improved automobile, white and yellow goods industry performance against the previous year.
- Increased investment by government to boost economic recovery across the globe.
Overseas trades gaining momentum in CY ’21, which were stalled in Mar ’20.
During Jan-Mar ’21, the production volume aggregated to 486.9 mn t increasing by 10% as against 442.6 mn t in same period last year.
SteelMint analyses production of the top three steel producing nations-
1. China’s crude steel output rises by 19% on year- Chinese producers churned 94.00 mn t in Mar ’21 as against 78.93 mn t in Mar ’20, rising by 19% y-o-y basis. While, during the three months of 2021 (Jan-Mar) China’s output aggregated to 271.00 mn t, moved up by 15.6% compared to 243.43 mn t in the same period last year.
Increasing activities across major steel-consuming sectors provided a boost to the production volumes. Also, China’s GDP rose by 18.3% to RMB 24.93 trillion ($3.82 trillion) in the first quarter of 2021 over strong domestic as well as foreign demand, as per the data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
2. India crude steel output rises by 24% on the year- India, being the second largest steel producing nation produced 24% more on a y-o-y basis. The output stood at 10.00 mn t in Mar ’21 in comparison with 8.07 mn t in CPLY. Meanwhile, during the three months of CY ‘21 (Jan-Mar) the output moved up by 10% to 29.60 mn t against 26.81 mn t in Q1 CY ’20.
Improved domestic demand from downstream sectors viz. construction and automobiles along with higher export allocations have led to higher production.
Improved performance by steel manufacturers-
- Jindal steel and power ltd. (JSPL) recorded a 21% y-o-y growth in its crude steel production to 0.73 mn t in Mar ‘21 against 0.60 mn t in Mar ’20 over recovering from the outbreak of COVID-19 and optimally utilizing its production capacity.
- JSW Steel reported their capacity utilization improved in Q4 FY ’21 to 93% as against 66% in Q1 FY ’21.
3. Japan’s crude steel output rises by 5% on year- Japan’s crude steel output stood at 8.30 mn t in Mar ’21 compared to 7.93 mn t a year ago, increasing by 5% on a y-o-y basis. On the other hand, during the three months of 2021 (Jan-Mar) the output stood at 23.70 mn t, dropping by 2% against 24.11 mn t in CPLY.
Stringent lockdown and stalled economic activities across globe in Mar ’21 with the COVID-19 taking a pandemic form had led to lower production at the steel mills. However, the nation is still recovering from the recent outbreak of COVID-19 in mid-Jan which has further resulted in slow economic growth, denting demand for steel products and slow ramp-up in capacity utilization by major Japanese mills.
Leave a Reply