Global steel production fell 6.1% in January

LONDON (Archyde.com) – Global steel production fell 6.1 percent in January as demand faltered in top producer China, and soaring energy prices hit Europe. Data from the World Steel Union showed on Tuesday that the drop in global production in January to 155 million tons was mainly due to a drop of 11.2 percent in China, the largest producer and consumer of the metal. Chinese demand has fallen due to problems in the real estate sector and restrictions imposed by the government to cut carbon emissions and reduce pollution during the Winter Olympics. Steel production fell 6.8 percent in the European Union and 7.8 percent in Turkey. The European Steel Manufacturers Association (European) said this month that steel demand growth in the European Union is expected to fall sharply this year as bottlenecks in supply chains and a sharp jump in energy prices hurt industrial operations, especially in the auto sector. But other major producers boosted production, as it rose 4.7 percent in India in January, 4.2 percent in the United States and 3.3 percent in Russia.