World crude steel production decreased by 2% in 2025

The World Steel Association (worldsteel) has released global crude steel production figures for December 2025. Accordingly, crude steel production across 70 countries declined by 3.7% year on year to 139.6 million tonnes (Mt) in December 2025.

Global crude steel production decreased by 2% in 2025 compared with the previous year, falling to 1,803.8 million tonnes. The decline in production was mainly driven by weakness in China and Europe.

China stood out as the most notable contributor to the global decline in 2025. The country’s crude steel production decreased by 4.4% year on year, dropping below the 1 billion tonne threshold to 960.8 million tonnes. In Europe, Germany drew attention with a significant decline, as crude steel production decreased by 8.6% to 34.1 million tonnes in 2025 from 37.3 million tonnes in 2024.

In Asia, Taiwan was among the countries recording the sharpest declines. Taiwan’s crude steel production decreased by 10.8% to 17.1 million tonnes in 2025, down from 19.2 million tonnes in 2024. Pakistan, which ranks 38th in global crude steel production, also posted a notable drop, with output falling by 12.2% from 4.1 million tonnes in 2024 to 3.6 million tonnes in 2025.

In contrast, strong production growth was recorded in several countries. Algeria posted the highest increase in crude steel production in 2025, rising by 17.9% from 4.5 million tonnes to 5.3 million tonnes. India, the world’s second largest crude steel producer, continued its upward trend with a 10.4% increase. India was followed by Vietnam with a 12.2% rise, Saudi Arabia with a 12.3% increase, and Australia with a 12.1% increase.

Regional production trends diverge

On a regional basis, Africa’s crude steel production increased by 3.8% in 2025 to 23.2 million tonnes. A similar trend was observed in the Middle East, where production increased by 4.3% to 56.9 million tonnes.

By contrast, crude steel production in Asia and Oceania declined by 2.4% to 1,324.5 million tonnes. Output in the European Union (EU-27) decreased by 2.6% to 126.2 million tonnes, while production in other European countries outside the EU decreased by 0.9% to 42.8 million tonnes.

In North America, crude steel production increased by 0.7% in 2025 to 107.4 million tonnes. Meanwhile, total production in Russia and other CIS countries, including Ukraine, declined by 4.4% to 81.3 million tonnes. In South America, crude steel production decreased by 1.2% to 41.5 million tonnes.