Less steel was produced in the first quarter of 2026 compared with one year earlier, but March witnessed a 12.7 percent boost in output compared with the prior month.
Despite military action in Iran and the Middle East followed by sea freight interruptions in that region, the global steel industry enjoyed an active March 2026, with melt shop output rising 12.7 percent month on month.
Although steel output in the 69 countries reporting to the Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) was lower this March compared with March 2025, it spiked compared with the previous month thanks in part to a rebound in the People’s Republic of China.
Worldsteel says mills around the world produced 159.9 million metric tons (mmt) of steel this March, representing a 4.2 decrease compared with March 2025. Year to date, 2.3 less steel was made in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same time frame last year.
In addition to March being the days longer compared with April, the lengthy Chinese New Year’s break in that nation was over by March 1. The two circumstances could help explain that nation’s 14.3 percent month-on-month rebound in steel output this March.
Steel output in the United States remains strong, with mills there making 5.7 percent more steel in the first quarter of this year compared with the first three months of 2025.
Month-on-month output in the U.S. also rose this March, reaching 7.2 mmt and notching an increase of 10.8 percent compared with the prior month.
According to the Washington-based American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the trend is continuing in April. AISI says during a week in mid-April, the mill capability utilization (capacity) rate reached 80 percent, hitting a target set by the White House as it enacted tariffs on inbound steel.
India’s rise in steel output also continued this March, with the nation’s 15.3 mmt produced representing a 9.4 percent increase year on year and a 12.5 percent rise month on month.
Other nations with rising output trends in the first quarter of 2025, according to Worldsteel, include Vietnam (+10 percent), Germany (+9 percent), Turkey (+5.3 percent) and South Korea (+1.8 percent).
Nations with reduced output so far in 2026 include Russia (-10.7 percent), China (-4.6 percent), Brazil (-3.1 percent) and Japan (-1.7 percent).