World steel output up 58% in May

The International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) on Friday announced that World Crude Steel production witnessed a growth of 58% in May ’08 to 119.5-million tons compared to same period last year.

Brazil’s crude steel production increased by 2.8% in May, to 3-million tons, compared with, 2.9-million tons in May last year.

In Europe, Germany produced 4.1-million tons of crude steel in May, an increase of 2.6% compared with the same month in 2007. Turkish crude steel production increased by 12% to 2.5-million tons.

China produced 10.5% more steel last month, lifting crude steel output to 46-million tons. India, Japan and Korea also showed growth. Overall, Asia produced 67.6-million tons, compared with 62.4-million tons last year, an 8.3% increase in crude steel production.