Global steel output records boost shouldered by China’s dominance

THE WORLD STEEL ASSO CIATION on Friday released data indicating that steel output jumped 2.9 per cent year on year in September to record its second consecutive month of gains after five depreciative months as the coronavirus pandemic deflated industrial activity.

The data also disclosed that global crude steel production increased to 156.4 million tonnes, enhanced by a strong recovery in China, which saw a 10.9 per cent uptick to 92.6 million tonnes.

Caroline Bain, chief economist at Capital Economics, an international economic company, asserts that China, the world’s top producer and consumer of the metal was the beneficiary of all the growth output and it looks increasingly plausible that a rally elsewhere will have to wait until 2021.

She however stated that a demand growth in the world’s most populous country may ease back from here as the government has tightened lending conditions for property developcommodities ers.

China’s solo dominance in the steel industry is related to its early revival from the covid-19 pandemic and a heavy infrastructure stimulus expenditure.

On the other hand, steel production slumped 18.5 per cent in the United States, fell 19.3 per cent in Japan and slided 9.7 per cent in Germany.

According to the data from the World Steel Organisation, the first nine months of the year also witnessed a 3.2 per cent production drop globally except for China that recorded 4.8 per cent increase.

The World Steel Association is an international iron and steel industry that consists of a group of producers accounting for over 85 per cent of global steel output.