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Asian steel growth led by China

February 25, 2010 - 00:00 GMT

KEYWORDS: Chinese steel , refractory , crude steel

Chinese steel output up 13.5%; Chinese refractory mineral exports down 58%

However, while key steel producing regions of the European Union, North America, South America and the CIS posted dramatic falls in output, Asia, and especially China and India, plus the Middle East, exhibited positive growth, mainly from H2 2009.

For the refractories market, where steel accounts for a 70% market share, the trend of early recovery in Asia and the Middle East will be most welcome.

China’s surge

China’s crude steel production in 2009 reached 567.8m., an increase of 13.5% on 2008. Incredibly, given the economic climate, the WSA states this as a record annual crude steel production figure for a single country.

This has also boosted China’s share of world steel production in 2009 to 47% of world total crude steel, an increase of 9% over 2008.

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

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