Global crude steel production totaled 162.7 million mt in April, down 5.1% from April 2021, according to World Steel Association data published May 24.

          Output from January through April totaled 619.1 million mt, down 7.1% from year-ago levels, data showed.

          April global production was 1.2% higher than March.

          Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur1,275/mt ex-works Ruhr April 29, down from $1,390/mt at the start of the month, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

          The largest producer, China, produced 92.8 million mt of crude steel in April, making up 57% of total global crude steel output. That is down 5.2% from April 2021, but up 5.1% from March.

          Total steel produced in China from January through April was 336.2 million mt, down 10.3% from the same period a year ago.

          The world’s second-largest steel producer, India, produced 10.1 million mt in April, up 6.2% year on year, but down 8.8% from March. India’s January-April output was 42.3 million mt, also up 6.5% year on year.

          Turkey and Russia were the only other top-10 producers that saw production rises in April. Turkey's output totaled 3.4 million mt, up 1.6%, while Russia's production ticked up 0.6% to an estimated 6.4 million mt.

          April production from Japan totaled 7.5 million mt, down 4.4% on the year and 6.1% from March, with January-April output at 30.5 million mt, down 3.3% from the same period of 2021, data showed.

          April output from the US totaled 6.9 million mt, down 3.9% year on year and 0.2% from March, bringing the four-month total to 27.1 million mt, down 1.7% from the same 2021 period.

          South Korea’s production in April totaled 5.5 million mt, down 4.1% on the year and 2.9% from March. From January through April, South Korean output was 22.4 million mt, down 4% from the same period a year ago.