Posted on 25 Jun 2026
Crude steel production among the 70 countries or regions checked by the World Steel Association (WSA) totaled 773.1 million tonnes over the first five months this year, declining by 1.5% from the same reporting period last year, according to the association's latest release published on June 23.
The Association enlarged its country sample from 69 to 70 in its May report by adding Bolivia into the dataset, Mysteel Global noted.
Total monthly output registered 157.9 million tonnes in May, rising by 2.9% on month while dipping by a small 0.3% on year, WSA data showed. As a result, the cumulative output decline over January-May narrowed to 1.5% on-year, down by 0.5 percentage point from the 2% decline recorded in the first four months of this year.
China, the world's largest steelmaker, produced 415.5 million tonnes over January-May, dropping by 3.9% on year. The figure accounted for 53.7% of the global total, down by 0.3 percentage point from the January-April level.
During May alone, China's crude steel production volume reached 84.4 million tonnes, lower by 2.7% on year but rising by 1% from April, the WSA release revealed.
One reason for the on-month growth was the improving profitability among Chinese steelmakers in May, which encouraged them to ramp up production pace over the month. Mysteel's survey showed that 154 of the 247 sampled Chinese steelmakers reported positive margins on steel sales last month, 33 more than in April.
In May, Japan, Russia and Brazil also recorded on-year declines in their crude steel output, with the figures down by 0.7%, 10% and 1.9% respectively, according to the WSA release.
India, the second-largest steelmaking country worldwide, saw its crude steel output rise by 1.9% on year to reach 14.1 million tonnes in May. This also lifted the country's five-month total by a larger 7.8% on year to 72.9 million tonnes, the WSA release indicated.
The United States also posted further gains, with its crude steel production in May gaining by 9.2% on year to 7.5 million tonnes, while its cumulative output over January-May rose by 6.8% to 35.6 million tonnes, according to the WSA release.
Source:Mysteel Global
