Ukraine slides to 14th place in WSA's rating in March

Ukrainian steelmakers boosted steel output by 4.7% in March 2018 year-over-year (y-o-y), to 1.7 million tonnes, having slid from the 12th to the 14th place in the international steelmakers rating drawn up by the World Steel Association (WSA).

In January-March 2018, Ukraine reduced steel production by 2.8% y-o-y.

Read alsoUkraine sees record low steel output in 2017

China continued to top the rating in March 2018 with 73.9 million tonnes of steel (4.5% up y-o-y). It was followed by India (9.227 million tonnes, 5.3% up), Japan (9.082 million tonnes, 2.2% up), the United States (7.261 million tonnes, 5.3% up), South Korea (6.095 million tonnes, 4.7% up), Russia (5.7 million tonnes, 0.9% down), Germany (3.9 million tonnes, 0.6% up) Turkey (3.368 million tonnes, 7.6% up), and Brazil (3.065 million tonnes, 7.6% up).

In total, the 64 countries ranked by the WSA increased steel output by 4% in March 2018 y-o-y, to 148.33 million tonnes

China also topped the WSA rating in January-March 2018 with 210.797 million tonnes (5.4% up y-o-y).

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine in 2017 slid to the 12th place in the international steelmakers rating, having cut production by 6.4% against 2016, to 22.7 million tonnes.

UNIAN memo. Ukraine ranked seventh in the WSA rating 2013 in terms of steel output, having produced 30.4 million tonnes.

In 2014, the country slid to the 10th place with a steel output of 27.2 million tonnes. Since 2014, two factors have affected domestic steelmakers' activities: hostilities in Donbas, where more than half of steel production facilities are located, and a decline in world prices of raw materials for metallurgy and finished products. They reduced steelmakers' revenue and toughened competition on world markets, which was most evident in 2015. However, Ukraine managed to keep its 10th position in the industry rating in 2015 and 2016.