The global steel industry experienced a challenging year in 2012, with the World Steel Association, which represents steelmakers in 62 countries, reporting that apparent steel consumption increased only 1.7% in 2012, a sharp drop from the 7.4% growth in 2011, owing to the European debt crisis, which impacted negatively on infrastructure and construction spending.

While apparent steel consumption increased only marginally in the year, world crude steel production increased to a record 1.548-billion tonnes, outperforming 2011 production by 1.2%. Growth came mainly from Asia and North America, while production in the European Union and South America decreased, compared with 2011 figures. In South Africa, the country’s steelmakers collectively produced 6.9-million tonnes in 2012, compared with the 7.5-million tonnes in the previous year, dropping in the world steel production rankings from 21 to 22. The decline in South African primary steel production has continued into 2013.

This report provides an overview of the global steel industry, and particularly of South Africa’s steel sector over the past year, including details of production and consumption, as well as the country's primary carbon steel producers.

This report is a summary of information published in Engineering News and Mining Weekly, as well as information available in the public domain.

The report does not purport to provide analysis of market trends.

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