World crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association registered 95.6 million metric tons in May, a drop of more than 20 percent compared to May 2008.

The US produced 4.3 million metric tons, or mmt, of crude steel in May 2009, a decrease of more than 50 percent compared to the same month last year.

China and Iran were the only notable nations reporting an uptick in crude steel production. In May, China made 46.5 mmt, which is more than half a percent higher than May 2008. Iran produced 0.9 mmt in May, 11.6 percent more than in May 2008.

Some of the other countries reporting for May include:

*Japan, 6.5 mmt, down 38.5 percent from year;

*Germany, 2.2 mmt, a decrease of 47.8 percent from May 2008;

*Russia, 4.7 mmt, a decrease of 31.2 percent from May 2008.

World crude steel production for the first five months of 2009 was 449 mmt, a 22.4 percent decrease over the same period of 2008. Asia produced 294 mmt of crude steel, a decline of 8.8 percent over the first five months of 2008 while the EU produced 50.7 mmt of steel from January to May 2009, down by 44.4 percent compared to the same months of 2008.

North America reported a nearly 50 percent decline, producing 29 mmt during the first five months of 2009.

China produced 217.2 mmt of crude steel for the first five months of 2009, a slight increase of .4 percent and Iran showed an increase of 12.6 percent, producing 4.7 mmt of crude steel for the first five months of 2009. All the other major steel producing countries showed a decrease for the first five months of 2009.

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