World steel output falls 2.8% in 2015; first decline since 2009

Global steel production dropped by nearly 3% to 1,622.8 million tonnes (MT) last year, registering its first fall since 2009.

According to industry body World Steel Association (WSA), the last decline in global steel output was witnessed in 2009, when production fell by 8% to 1,238.8 MT from 1,343.4 MT in 2008.

Since then it has continuously risen till 2014. Global steel production stood at 1,433.4 MT in 2010, 1,538 MT in 2011, 1,560.1 MT in 2012, 1,650.4 MT in 2013 and 1,670.2 MT in 2014, the data released by WSA showed.

"World crude steel production reached 1,622.8 MT for the year 2015, down by 2.8% compared to 2014. Crude steel production decreased in all regions except Oceania in 2015," WSA said.

Market insiders said the decline is on account of steel firms cutting down on production to rationalise their costs as the industry faces the twin menace of falling demand and decreasing prices.

Prices of some steel products plummeted to 10 year-lows in 2015, they added.

Annual production of crude steel in Asia was 1,113.8 MT in 2015, a decrease of 2.3% compared to 2014.

Crude steel output in China -- the world's largest steel maker -- fell by 2.3% to 803.8 MT in 2015 compared to the year-ago period. However, its share of world crude steel production increased from 49.3% in 2014 to 49.5% in 2015.

Japan produced 105.2 MT in 2015, down by 5% compared to 2014, while output in India grew by 2.6% to 89.6 MT during the same period.

South Korea produced 69.7 MT of crude steel in 2015, a decrease of 2.6% compared to 2014.

In 2015, the European Union produced 166.2 MT of steel, a decline of 1.8% against 2014, whereas the output in North America decreased by 8.6% to 110.7 MT during the same period.

The US produced 78.9 MT of crude steel last year, down by 10.5% compared to 2014.

Production in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which includes Russia, showed a decrease of 4.3% in 2015 with an output producing 101.5 MT of crude steel.

Annual crude steel production for South America was 43.9 MT in 2015, a decrease of 2.5% on 2014. Brazil produced 33.2 MT in 2015, down by 1.9% from 2014.

In December 2015, the world steel production for the 66 countries reporting stood at 126.7 MT, a fall of 5.7% compared to the year-ago period, WSA said.

Crude steel capacity utilisation ratio for December 2015 was 64.6% lower by 4.9 percentage points than December 2014. The average capacity utilisation in 2015 was 69.7% compared to 73.4% in 2014, it added.