WORLD steel production increased by 1% in October 2024, breaking a run of three months of decline, data from the World Steel Association shows.

Chinese production increased in October by 2.9% with 81.9m tonnes of the alloy manufactured by the world’s biggest producer last month.

China’s output is still down by 3% for the first 10 months of the year, however.

Increased steel production by Chinese mills is usually good news for the dry bulk sector, but crucially the country is exporting steel at an extraordinary rate.

Reuters reported that Chinese exporters will ship more than 100m tonnes in 2024, the most since 2016. Exports will remain high into 2025 too, Reuters suggested, as producers try to manage soft domestic demand and overcapacity.

Elsewhere, the world’s second-biggest steel producer, India, continued its good year with a 1.7% increase in October. Indian steel production is up 5.6% in the first 10 months of the year.

Only Türkiye and Brazil have had better years so far, with increases of 12.4% and 6% respectively. Brazilian production increased by 16.2% in October 2024, the most of any nation that reports to the WSA (Germany followed close behind with a year-on-year increase of 14.7% in October).

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