Global News Of Note: Global Steel Production Fell In December 2024

What happens abroad impacts MSCI members in North America. Here is the latest economic, trade, and other policy news of note for the last week:

• Global steel production fell 1.6 percent between November 2024 and December 2024, but increased 5.6 percent from December 2023 to December 2024 to hit 144.5 million tons. In total, 1.839 billion tons of steel were produced worldwide in 2024, a number that is 0.9 percent lower than in 2023. Russia saw one of the largest declines in production last year. The country reduced its steel production by seven percent. U.S. steel production was down 2.4 percent in 2024, Chinese production fell 1.7 percent, and in Japan production was down 3.4 percent. India was one of the few countries where production, up 6.3 percent year-over-year, increased.
• China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced last week that its purchasing managers’ index for the country rose to a three-month high in February. Specifically, the reading increased from 49.1 in January to 50.2 last month. Sub-indices for production and new orders came in at 52.5 and 51.1, respectively. The PMI for the equipment manufacturing sector and hi-tech manufacturing sector stood at 50.8 and 50.9, respectively. Read more at this link.