The UN Trade & Development’s latest Global Trade Update report noted that global trade trends turned positive in the first quarter of 2024, with the value of trade in goods increasing by around 1% quarter-on-quarter and services by about 1.5%. This growth was primarily driven by increased exports from China (9%), India (7%) and the US (3%).
The latest June 2024 crude steel production data from the WSA had global output across 71 reporting countries at 161.4 million tonnes, up 0.5% year-on-year. Chinese output for the month was estimated at 91.6 million tonnes, up 0.2% year-on-year. Outside China, other major producers that recorded year-on-year losses in June included Iran (-8.5%), South Korea (-7.2%), Japan (-4.2%), Russia (-4.1%), and the US (-1.5%). There were year-on-year gains in Brazil (+11.8%), India (+6.0%), the EU (+5.1%), and Turkey (+4.3%). The WSA estimated Chinese crude steel output in the first six months of 2024 at 530.6 million tonnes, down 1.1% year-on-year. Over the same period India’s output totalled 74.2 million tonnes, up 7.4% year-on-year, while EU production totalled 67.2 million tonnes, up 0.9% year-on-year.