PRESS RELEASE

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Two Systems Before the World: Steel

Nov. 23, 2016 (EIRNS)—As former German Steel Association chief Dieter Ameling has stressed in Schiller Institute conference presentations, steel is the "universal construction material." The latest annual crude steel production figures published Nov. 22 by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) tell us, then, who is constructing the world. In a striking contrast, every New Silk Road country reporting to worldsteel had steel production increases from October 2015 to October 2016. By contrast, the trans-Atlantic countries’ crude steel production figures all fell.

Overall, worldsteel said crude steel production worldwide rose 3.3% during the year to 136.5 million metric tons (Mt). China produced half of that total.

Examples of countries whose production fell:

United States, -2.5%; Germany, -3.7%; Spain, -10.5%; Italy, -11; Ukraine, -6.1%.

Examples of countries whose crude steel production grew:

China, +4.0%; Russia, +2.0%; India, +12.3%; Turkey, +8.6%.

U.S. industrial production in October was lower than the year before for the 14th straight month; and was 2.1% lower than two years ago, in October 2014.