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January global steel production rose a less than seasonally normal 0.9% to 116.7 million tonnes (mt), compared with the typical monthly gain of 2.5%, as Chinese production fell by 0.2% and output in South Korea dropped 13.9%.  Production was down some 7.8% compared with year-ago levels as production in Asia and the EU were down some 11.4% and 5.6%, respectively, with China posting the largest year-on-year decline – at 13.0% – since October 2008.

Production in the EU rose a seasonally-normal 11.9% driving the overall gain, while US production increased for the third straight month to the highest level since September 2008.

Korea also posted a significant year-over-year decline of 9.6%, which was unexpected given the additional steelmaking capacity Korean steelmakers have brought online.  The decline is good news for the US market which saw a 39% increase in imports from Korea in 2011.

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