Crude Steel Output by African Nations Dipped to Multi-Year Lows

The crude steel output by countries in the African region recorded notable decline during the month of April this year.

The region’s crude steel output plunged to 603,000 tonnes during the month, said the latest monthly production statistics published by the World Steel Association (worldsteeel). This compares with the output of 1.361 million tonnes (Mt) in April 2019. Over the year, the output registered sharp decline by 55.7%. The global crude steel production had fallen by 13% during the month.

The South African crude steel output plunged by almost 99.5%, falling from 576,000 tonnes to just around 3,000 tonnes. The Libyan output reduced to nil during the month. It must be noted that the country had produced 57,000 tonnes of crude steel in the same month a year before. The output by Egypt too reported year-on-year decline by 17.6% from 728,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes.

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The regional production totalled 4.234 Mt in the initial four months of the year. This is significantly down by 18.5% when matched with the production of 5.192 Mt in Jan-Apr ’19. Egypt- the largest steel producer in the region accounted for total production of 2.827 Mt. The other key producers were South Africa (1.257 Mt) and Libya (150,000 tonnes). All the countries reported reduced steel output over the previous year.