Lower production in Europe hits global steel output

LONDON, July 27 (Reuters): Global crude steel production fell 1.1 per cent year on year to 943.9 million metric tons in the first half of 2023 due to lower output in Europe and the Americas, World Steel Association data showed on Tuesday.

Output in China, the world's top producer and consumer of the metal, rose 1.3 per cent to 535.6 metric tons in January-June, the data showed.

Several Chinese steel mills have received instructions to cap this year's output at the same level as 2022, five people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

China's 2023 steel production is likely to continue hovering around the 1-billion ton mark for the fourth year in a row, analysts at Citi said in a note on Tuesday.

Outside China, Citi expects steel output to rise in the second half of the year and drive full-year ex-China production to 847 million metric tons, up 3.6 per cent from 2022.

The World Steel Association also said that it estimated first-half production in sanctions-hit Russia, the world's fifth largest producing country, rose 1 per cent to 37.5 million metric tons.