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China tops, India 4th in list of steel producing nations
December 21, 2014, 7:01 am

A worker checks stainless-steel cable at a base in Dalian, Liaoning province, China [Xinhua]

A worker checks stainless-steel cable at a base in Dalian, Liaoning province, China [Xinhua]

China has been world’s top steel producer in the first eleven months of 2014, producing around 650 million tonnes (Mt) steel, new World Steel Association (WSA) data showed.

China’s BRICS partner India will remain the world’s fourth largest steel maker this year, with an output of 76.19 Mt steel in the January-November period.

Global steel production during the period grew by 1.8 per cent to 1,497.75 Mt, compared to 1,471.44 Mt in the same period last year, says new data.

China, Japan, the US and India are the world’s top four steel producing nations in that order.

Production in the US grew by 1.5 per cent in the first 11 months of the year grew to 80.95 Mt from 79.75 MT a year ago.

The ranking among the top four steel producers remain the same for the last four years. China is the world’s biggest steel producer and consumer, with much of China’s steel surplus diverted to foreign markets.

China’s crude steel production for November was 63.3 Mt, the US 7.2 MT, South Korea 5.91 MT and Russia 5.84 MT.

China will encourage transferring “competitive” production to Southeast Asian countries in need of new infrastructure, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said last month.

China’s Heibei province, its biggest steelmaking region, has said it aims to transfer 5 million tons of production capacity overseas by 2017 and 20 million tons by 2023.

While announcing a $3.09 billion Chinese aid package for five of its neighbours during a regional summit in Thailand on Friday, the Chinese Premier also said Beijing would export its production capacity in steel and cement industries to these countries, especially those on regional transportation routes.

 

TBP and Agencies