The People's Republic of China produced a total of 66.8 million tonnes of crude steel in July, an increase of 2.6 per cent over the same month in 2015. According to the latest figures from the World Steel Association (Worldsteel), China's crude steel output for the year so far is just 0.5 per cent beneath its mark for the same period a year ago.
In contrast, the 28 EU states reported a clear decrease of 4.6 per cent compared with July 2015: Only 13 million tonnes of crude steel were produced in the European Union last month, compared with 13.6 million tonnes in the same month a year ago.
Almost all major EU steel-producing nations posted declines in output in the month of July. Spain's production fell 13 per cent year-on-year to 840,000 tonnes, France's total was 4.7 per cent lower at 1.15 million tonnes and Germany's total slipped 6.1 per cent to 3.39 million tonnes. Only Italy saw an increase in output for the month, up 6.2 per cent to 2.05 million tonnes.