China
In April, China's steel consumption decreased. Lockdowns imposed to control the newest Covid-19 outbreak are still causing problems in the country. Following this, several financial businesses and rating agencies cut their growth projections for China for 2022 to an average of 4.5 percent, significantly below the government's declared aim of 5.5 percent. Despite this, China's crude steel output hit 92.8 million tonnes in April, accounting for 57% of global output.
Russia
Despite the impact of economic sanctions and the restriction on finished steel products entering Europe, Russian crude steel production remained stable last month. Worldsteel estimated its April output at 6.4 million tonnes.
It should be noted, however, that data since the conflict began are estimates due to a lack of official reporting.
European Union
In April, crude steel production in the EU fell to 12.3 million tonnes. Imports of HRC, CRC, and HDG into the region declined by 25%, 10%, and 40% in the first quarter, respectively. Other countries have yet to adequately compensate for the decline in supplies from Ukraine and Russia.
United States
In April 2022, US production hit 6.9 million tonnes, bringing the year-to-date total to 27.1 million tonnes. This is down 1.7 percent from the same time in 2021.As corporations focused on decommissioning less efficient units, output fell. Cleveland-Cliffs' Indiana Harbour facility lost 2.1 million tonnes per year of capacity when blast furnace #4 was shut down.
The capacity utilisation rate for the month rose 2.5 percent year on year to 80.6 percent, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute
Iran
Iranian crude steel output was projected to have dropped by more than 20% year on year to 2.2 million tonnes in April. This can be ascribed to a local economic downturn.
As sanctions intensified, the government increased monetary supply, causing significant inflationary pressures. The impact of the Ukrainian crisis on the availability of vital commodities has aggravated the problem. Industrial demand has been impacted by energy supply constraints.
India
India has defied global trends. In the first four months of this year, 42.3 million tonnes of output were produced. This represents a 2.5 million-tonne increase over the same period in 2021.
However, the impact of the recently proposed 15% export tariff on HRC, CRC, and HDG on these amounts is unknown. In the year 2021, India shipped over 9 million tonnes of this commodity.
The materials and information on this article have been prepared or assembled by Viet Nam Steel and are intended for informational purposes only.
