World steel output falls in Sept; India logs rise

World's steel production fell for the first time in eight months in September primarily due to sluggish output in all major producing nations, barring India.

According to World Steel Association, global production in September fell by 0.1 per cent to 134.4 million tonnes (MT) compared to 134.5 MT in the same month last year.

The dip in production was mainly due to stagnant output in world's largest producing nation, China. The country, which produces almost half of world's steel, produced 67.5 MT steel in September like in the corresponding month last year.

China, Japan, US and India are the leading producers of steel in the world. In September, production in Japan fell by 0.5 per cent and it dipped by 0.1 per cent in the US.

India was the only exception among the top four producing nations. Production in world's fourth largest steel producer grow by 2.5 per cent during the month to 6.8 MT compared to 6.6 MT in the same month last year.

World's steel production had declined by 0.4 per cent in January this year over the same month last year due to a dip in Chinese production. Output in China had fallen by 3.2 per cent in January this year.

WSA said crude steel capacity utilisation ratio during the month was 76.1 per cent, which is 2.6 percentage points lower than September 2013.