Worldsteel published May’s global crude steel production on June 20th. World crude steel production was 136.3 million tonnes, 3.6% higher than in May 2012 and 0.2% lower on an average daily basis than April 2013.
China production increased by 5.8 million tonnes between May 2012 and May 2013 to reach a monthly record of 67.0 million tonnes. Also in Asia, Japanese production between May 2012 and 2013 increased by almost 400,000 tonnes as did Taiwan’s by about 250,000 tonnes, though South Korean production fell 500,000 tonnes. EU27 production was down 5% in May compared to last year but up 5% compared to April 2013 on increases in Italy and France. This was similar to the US where production also dropped 5% compared to May 2012 but climbed 5% compared to April 2013.
As usual, all the data for May 2013 (and plenty of prior years) are ready to be analyzed in the Nerds spreadsheet below.
Based on reported import licenses, US long products imports rose 95% from 194,000 short tons in April to 378,000 tons in May. In comparison, May long products were 239,000 tons in 2012, 252,000 tons in 2011, 236,000 tons in 2010, 98,000 tons in 2009, 242,000 tons in 2008, and 591,000 tons in 2007.
The rise was mainly due to higher rebar imports, which increased by about 140,000 tons due almost exclusively to Turkey. Wire rod imports rose by about 35,000 tons due to higher volumes from a number of countries including the UK, Brazil, Spain and Turkey.
I will updated the spreadsheet below to show mid-June licenses as soon as the licenses are updated this week.
Better late than never. I’ve entered Q1 2013 financial results into the Nerds of Steel earnings spreadsheet. Sorry for the tardiness. In general, Q1 EBITDA per ton was similar to the previous quarter. About half the companies we track reported lower EBITDA per ton in Q1 2013 vs. Q4 2012, while the other half showed some improvement. Again, there was a wide range of outcomes – from $38/ton for US Steel to $139 for Ternium.
Based on reported import licenses, US flat products imports fell 20% from 737,000 short tons in April to 588,000 tons in May. May flat products imports in 2012 were 791,000 tons, in 2011 715,000 tons, in 2010 639,000 tons, and in 2009 350,000 tons.
Imports of all flat rolled products except hot dip galvanized fell. Hot rolled imports fell by 25% or about 85,000 tons due to lower imports from a number of countries such as Australia, Japan, France and Canada. Cut plate imports dropped by almost 40% due to lower volumes mainly from Germany and France. Finally, cold rolled imports dropped by almost 25% due to lower imports from countries including Brazil, China, and Korea.
I will update the spreadsheet below to show mid-June license results as soon as the licenses are updated the week of June 17th.
China crude steel production was 65.7 million metric tonnes in April, 8.4% higher than in April 2013. Year-to-April production was 257 million tonnes, 10% higher than year-to-April production in 2012.
Comparing consecutive months, April production was 0.6 million tonnes lower than March production, but due to the shorter April month, average daily production in April was 2% higher. In addition, China’s net finished steel exports in April were 4.3 million tonnes, 21% higher than in April 2012 and 6% higher than in March 2013.
Worldsteel published April’s global crude steel production on May 21st. World crude steel production was 132.1 million metric tonnes, 1.9% higher than in April 2012 and 1.5% higher on an average daily basis than March 2013.
In western Europe, both Italy and France showed 12% lower production between April 2012 and April 2013. Year-on-year production in the US and South Korea fell by 7%. In contrast, Chinese production increased by about 8% or 5 million tonnes and Indian production was up by 4%.
As usual, all the data for April 2013 (and plenty of prior years) are ready to be analyzed in the Nerds Spreadsheet below.
