Blast furnace being tapped (Photo: U.S. Steel)

According to the World Steel Association (WSA), global production of crude steel in the first six months of 2013 was up 2.0 per cent.

The results, which were compared to the same period in 2012, showed that Asia was mostly responsible for the gains after experiencing growth of 5.5 per cent.

Most other regions recorded negative growth in the first half of 2013.

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The European unio produced 5.1 per cent less compared to last year while North and South America produced 5.8 per cent and 4.6 per cent less respectively.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.) region, which includes Russia, showed a decrease of 3.0 per cent.

China led the way for the Asian countries, with their crude steel production for June 2013 at 64.7 megatonnes (Mt) – up by 4.6 per cent compared to June 2012.

Japan also contributed to the higher Asian numbers after producing 9.3Mt of crude steel in June 2013 an increase of 0.9 per cent compared to last June.

In the EU Germany produced 3.7 Mt of crude steel in June 2013, a decrease of 2.2 per cent compared to June 2012. Italy’s production dropped 10.3 per cent to 2.2 Mt, while France produced 1.4 Mt of crude steel in June 2013, up by 2.8 per cent on June 2012.

The US produced 7.2 Mt of crude steel in June 2013, down by 0.2 per cent on June 2012.

The WSA represents approximately 170 steel producers as well as national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes.