World crude steel production for the 65 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 141 million tonnes (Mt) in March 2014, an increase of 2.7% compared to March 2013.

In the first three months of 2014, Asia produced 274.0 Mt of crude steel, an increase of 2.6% over the first quarter of 2013. The EU produced 43.8 Mt of crude steel in the first quarter of 2014, up by 6.7% compared to the same quarter of 2013. North America’s crude steel production in the first three months of 2014 was 29.9 Mt, an increase 0.8% compared to the first quarter of 2013. The C.I.S. produced 26.3 Mt of crude steel in the first three months of 2014, a decrease of -2.8% over the same months of 2013.

China’s crude steel production for March 2014 was 70.3 Mt, up by 2.2% compared to March 2013. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 9.7 Mt of crude steel in March 2014, an increase of 2.9% over March 2013. South Korea’s crude steel production was 6.1 Mt in March 2014, up by 8.0% on March 2013.

In the EU, Germany produced 4.0 Mt of crude steel in March 2014, an increase of 6.1% compared to March 2013. Italy produced 2.4 Mt of crude steel, up by 8.0% compared to March 2013. France’s crude steel production was 1.4 Mt, an increase of 4.1% on March 2013. Spain produced 1.3 Mt of crude steel, up by 4.1% compared to March 2013.

Turkey’s crude steel production for March 2014 was 2.8 Mt, down by -4.3% on March 2013.

In March 2014, Russia produced 6.0 Mt of crude steel, an increase of 1.3% compared to the same month 2013. Ukraine’s production was 2.7 Mt in March 2014, down by -7.7% on March 2013.

The US produced 7.4 Mt of crude steel in March 2014, up by 0.9% on March 2013.

The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio for the 65 countries in March 2014 was 79.0% and it is 0.4 percentage points lower than March 2013. Compared to February 2014, it is 1.4 percentage points higher.

• [Editor:Yueleilei]