The 1566th issue of the bulletin "Branches of the Russian economy: Production, Finance, securities. Ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy" of the AK&M News Agency.
In February 2024, global steel production began to grow again. According to the World Steel Association (WSA), 148.8 million tons of steel were smelted during this period, which is 3.7% more than the total in February 2023 and 0.5% more than in January 2024. In total, in the first two months of 2024, 306.9 million tons of steel were smelted in the world — 3% more than in the same period of 2023. Moreover, 55% of the total volume was accounted for by China. It is worth noting that at the end of 2023, 8 participants were added to the list of countries whose statistics are analyzed by the WSA: Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman.
In January-February, Russia reduced steel production by 3.2% compared to a year earlier to 11.7 million tons, retaining the fifth place among metal–producing countries (according to the WSA). In the USA, metal production decreased by 2.6% to 13 million tons during this period. At the same time, China increased steel production by 1.6% to 168 million tons, India — by 10% to 25.5 million tons, Japan — by 0.8% to 14.3 million tons, South Korea — by 0.2% to 10.8 million tons. Turkey — by 34.5% to 6.3 million tons, and Iran — by 26.5% to 4.8 million tons. At the same time, Turkey rose to seventh place in the rating of steel producers, overtaking Germany, which dropped to eighth. In February, 5.7 million tons of steel were smelted in Russia — 4.4% less than a year earlier.
In January, the index of metallurgical production in Russia increased by 0.1% compared to January 2023, and decreased by 19.4% compared to the previous month. Pig iron production in January decreased by 3.9% compared to a year earlier, and the output of rolled ferrous metals decreased by 2.6%. The index of production in the extraction of metal ores in the Russian Federation in January fell by 1.2% compared to January 2023. At the same time, the output of iron ore concentrate decreased by 8.2% to 7.4 million tons, and the production of lead concentrates decreased by 14.7%.
Shipments of rolled steel and pipes by the main enterprises of the metallurgical industry to Russian consumers via the Russian Railways network amounted to 3.1 million tons. Compared to the previous month, shipments decreased by 1.5%, and increased by 0.5% year—on-year. In general, for the period from January to February, the volume of shipments amounted to 6.24 million tons, which is 4% lower than last year. According to Rosstat, in January, the apparent consumption of steel products in Russia increased by 1.3% compared to the same month last year. According to the results of the entire 2024, relative stability is expected in the range of plus or minus 1-2%.
This and many other topics are covered in issue No. 1566 of the monthly bulletin "Branches of the Russian Economy: Production, Finance, Securities. Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metallurgy" of the AK&M News Agency dated March 17, 2024.
