Global crude steel production stood at 139.4 million tonnes in January, marginally up by 0.8 per cent from the corresponding period last year as India and Japan made a sizeable contribution, the World Steel Association said in its release.

In the period under reivew, both India and Japan produced 9 million tonnes of crude steel each which was up 2.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively from the same period last year. China, the world's largest steel consumer and producer, witnessed a drop in production in January, as it crude steel output decreased 0.9 per cent on year-on-year basis to 67 million tonne.

In 2017, China was the highest contributor to the total production as its share rose to 49.2 per cent at 831.7 million tonne from 49 per cent in 2016. The total world steel production in 2017 was 1,162.5 million tonne.

In the European Union region, Italy’s crude steel production for January was 2 million tonne, up 5.3 per cent from last year, while France produced 1.4 million of crude steel, an increase of 3 per cent compared to January 2017. Spain witnessed a drop as it produced 1.1 million in January 2018, a decrease of 1 per cent from January 2017.

The US produced 6.8 million tonnes of crude steel in January, a 2.2 per cent decrease from last year. Though the world crude steel production was higher in January compared to last year, the capacity utilisations of the 64 reporting countries of World Steel Association was at 70 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points compared to same period last year even as it remained 0.7 percentage points higher as against the preceding month.