Global steel production rose by 1.4% to 133.7 million tonnes (MT) last month helped by increased output in top producing countries like China, Japan and India, showed latest data by World Steel Association.

According to the global industry body, crude steel output for the 66 countries rose by 1.4% in July 2016 compared to the same month last year.

China's crude steel production for July was 66.8 MT, an increase of 2.6% compared to July 2015. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.9 MT, an increase of 0.5% compared to July 2015, World Steel said in a statement.

India produced 8.1 MT of crude steel in July 2016, up 8.1% compared to the same month last year, while South Korea's crude steel production was 6.0 MT, up by 1.5% during the same period, it added.

The US, another major steel-making nation, produced 6.9 MT of steel in July 2016, a decrease of 2.2% compared to July 2015.

Steel capacity utilisation ratio of the 66 countries in July 2016 was 68.3%, which is the same as in July 2015. Compared to June 2016, it is down by 3.7 percentage points.

In the European Union, Germany produced 3.4 MT of steel in July 2016, a decline of 6.1% compared to July 2015, whereas the UK produced 0.7 MT, which was a fall of 27.3% during the same period.

Turkey's crude steel production for July 2016 was 2.7 MT, up by 6.5% on July 2015, while Russia's production stood at 6.1 MT, up by 0.9% over July 2015.

Ukraine produced 2.1 MT of steel, up by 10.5% compared to the same month in 2015.

Brazil's crude steel production for July 2016 was 2.7 MT, down by 6% on July 2015.