Taiwan recorded the third-highest growth rate among Asian countries in terms of crude steel production for last year, with a total production of 20.21 million tonnes, the government's statistics agency said yesterday.
Citing statistics compiled by the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics officials said world crude steel production for last year totaled 1.22 billion tonnes, up 9.6 percent from 2005, with production in the Asia region accounting for more than half of the world total.
The officials noted that among Asian countries, China recorded a 19.5 percent growth in crude steel production, the highest among all Asian countries, followed by India's 12.7 percent and Taiwan's 8.8 percent.
China was the largest crude steel producer in Asia last year, with a total volume of 422.55 million tonnes, followed by Japan's 116.23 million tonnes and South Korea with 48.42 million tonnes.
IISI statistics also show that Europe produced 230 million tonnes of crude steel last year and the Americas turned out 177.2 million tonnes. Russia had 70.76 million tonnes of crude steel last year, while Ukraine supplied 40.48 million tonnes, the statistics showed.
IISI is a non-profit organization that represents more than 190 steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations and steel research institutes.
It was founded in 1967.
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