Mideast steel production rises 3.5% in 2009

Steel production in the Middle East rose 3.5 percent in 2009, while year-on-year global production fell by eight percent, according to figures from the World Steel Association.The World Steel Association (WSA) represents approximately 180 steel producers and oversees around 85 percent of the world's steel production. The latest figures show that 16.591 million metric tons (mmt) of steel was produced in the Middle East last year, compared to 16.036mmt in 2008.

The main producers were Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. However, production growth among the three countries differed widely. Iran saw its production rise 9.1 percent to 10.873mmt, Saudi production rose 0.5 percent to 4.69mmt, while Qatar saw its production plummet 26.9 percent down to 1.028mmt.

Overall, global production fell 8.1 percent to 1.19 trillion metric tons. Europe saw the biggest change, falling 29.7 percent. North America was down 33.9 percent, South America by 20.1 percent and Africa by 11.3. Joining the Middle East in increasing production was Asia, which saw production up 3.8 percent.

There was also some large fluctuations within individual countries. The biggest drops were by Belgium (-47.2 percent), Bulgaria (-45.4 percent), Romania (-46.4 percent), Croatia (-51 percent) and Moldova (-57.1 percent).

The biggest emerging market was Ecuador, which saw a 106.2 percent surge in production. The top five biggest producers are China, Japan, Russia the US and India.