Source: World Steel Association (worldsteel), monthly crude steel production report, published September 24, 2026
Crude steel production in the 70 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) totalled 144.2 million tonnes in August 2026, a decline of 1.2 percent compared with August 2025. The reporting countries together account for approximately 98 percent of global steel output. Cumulative production for the first eight months of 2026 stood at 1,225.2 million tonnes, down 0.7 percent from the same period of 2025, suggesting that global supply has remained broadly flat even as regional trends have diverged sharply.
Regional performance was mixed. Asia and Oceania, the largest producing region, turned out 106.7 million tonnes in August, 1.4 percent below the level of a year earlier, while the European Union produced 8.9 million tonnes, down 1.0 percent. Output in Russia and other CIS countries plus Ukraine fell 5.6 percent to 6.3 million tonnes, the Middle East recorded 3.7 million tonnes, a decrease of 4.6 percent, and South America produced 3.4 million tonnes, down 4.9 percent. By contrast, North America lifted production by 3.9 percent to 9.4 million tonnes, and Africa posted the strongest growth among the major regions at 8.8 percent, reaching 2.1 million tonnes. On a year-to-date basis, African output is up 9.4 percent, while production in the Middle East has fallen 7.8 percent.
Among the leading producing countries, China produced 74.6 million tonnes in August, down 3.7 percent year on year, and its cumulative January-August output of 651.9 million tonnes was 3.1 percent lower than a year earlier, making it the largest single drag on the global total. India continued to expand, producing 14.8 million tonnes in August, up 4.6 percent, with year-to-date output ahead by 6.0 percent. The United States produced an estimated 7.3 million tonnes, up 3.0 percent, and South Korea turned out 5.4 million tonnes, up 2.6 percent, while Japanese production was broadly stable at 6.7 million tonnes. Viet Nam recorded by far the steepest increase, with output up 36.4 percent to 2.7 million tonnes, whereas Brazil reported the largest decline among major producers at 6.2 percent.
The August data underline a widening gap between mature and emerging steel markets. Growth in India, Viet Nam and North America is offsetting contractions in China, the CIS region and the Middle East. For raw material suppliers and steel traders, the figures point to seaborne demand continuing to shift toward Asian markets outside China, while elevated Chinese export availability looks set to persist as domestic output and apparent demand soften.
