World crude steel production fell 10.6% to 145.7 million tonnes (mn t) in Oct’21 as against 162.98 mn t in the same-period last year, as per the latest WSA data.
Meanwhile, on a m-o-m basis, global crude steel output moved up by mere 1% against 144.4 mn t in Sept’21.
In the Jan-Oct’21 period, cumulative output stood at 1,607.1 mn t, up 5.9% y-o-y.
Top three steel producing nations
1. China’s crude steel output down 23% y-o-y: China’s crude steel production stood at 71.6 mn t in Oct’21, down 23.3% compared to 93.35 mn t in the same period a year ago.
- Steel demand by end-users in the domestic market has been declining, especially from the housing and construction sector. For instance, China’s rebar output in Oct’21 touched 18.92 million tonnes (mn t), which is 21% lower compared to the previous year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
- Moreover, to cut emissions, Chinese authorities had extended production restrictions further from Nov’20 till Mar’22 in major steel producing hub Tangshan in Hebei province. Also, the inclusion of more steel producing cities later in CY’21 weighed on production volumes.
In Jan-Oct’21, total production stood at 877.1 mn t, down marginally against 871 mn t seen in Jan-Oct’20.
2. India’s crude steel production up 2% y-o-y: India, the second-largest steel producing nation, recorded an output of 9.8 mn t of crude steel in Oct’21, up 2.4% compared to 9.57 mn t in Oct’20. During Jan-Oct’21 production volumes jumped 20.6% to 96.90 mn t as against 80.35 mn t in Jan-Oct’20.
Improved capacity utilisation rates along with new capacity additions led to a rise in production. For instance, JSW Steel’s capacity utilisation stood at 95% in Oct’21 vs 89% in Oct’20, an increase of 6% y-o-y.
Two of the leading private steel manufacturers JSW Steel Ltd and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL), witnessed an annual growth of 7% in crude steel production each in Oct’21 at 1.425 mn t and 0.624 mn t respectively.
3. Japan’s crude steel production rises 14% y-o-y: Japanese mills produced 14.3% more of crude steel at 8.2 mn t in Oct’21 compared to 7.17 mn t in CPLY.
Also, in Jan-Oct’21, production jumped 17.5% y-o-y to 80.40 mn t compared to 68.43 mn t in the same period last year.
Strong demand from the manufacturing industry and an ease in pandemic restrictions have backed the rise in production. For instance, the ‘au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index’ (PMI) in October rose to 53.2 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 51.5 in the previous month, expanding for the ninth consecutive month.
Moreover, flat steel exports from Japan stood at 2.15 mn t in Sept’21, up 15% as against 1.87 mn t in Sept’20.
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