The index and pulse of the steel industry.
The Pulse
This board tracks the figures the industry runs on: how much steel the world is making, how hard mills are running, and where demand is heading.
Every figure is published exactly as its source released it, with the source named, dated, and linked. Matra Steel does not invent, estimate, or republish proprietary index values it cannot verify. When a source revises a figure, the board is updated and the change is noted under Corrections.
| Measure | Latest | Reading | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| World crude steel output, August 2026 | 144.2 Mt | Production by the 70 countries reporting to worldsteel, down 1.2 percent on August 2025. | World Steel Association, August 2026 release |
| World output, January to August 2026 | 1,225.2 Mt | Eight months of global crude steel production, down 0.7 percent on the same period of 2025. | World Steel Association, August 2026 release |
| China crude steel output, August 2026 | 74.6 Mt | The world's largest producer, down 3.7 percent on August 2025; 651.9 Mt in the first eight months of 2026. | World Steel Association, August 2026 release |
| India crude steel output, August 2026 | 14.8 Mt | Up 4.6 percent on August 2025, the fastest growth among the largest producers; 115.9 Mt year to date, up 6.0 percent. | World Steel Association, August 2026 release |
| US raw steel production, week ending 17 October 2026 | 1,870,000 net tons | Up 8.6 percent on the same week of 2025 and 4.1 percent on the week before. | American Iron and Steel Institute, Week ending 17 October 2026 |
| US capability utilization | 80.9% | The share of US steelmaking capability in use in the week ending 17 October 2026, against 75.1 percent a year earlier. | American Iron and Steel Institute, Week ending 17 October 2026 |
| US production, year to date 2026 | 75,632,000 net tons | At an average capability utilization of 79.1 percent, up 5.3 percent on the same period of 2025. | American Iron and Steel Institute, Through 17 October 2026 |
| Global steel demand forecast, 2026 | 1,722 Mt, flat | worldsteel's October Short Range Outlook holds 2026 demand essentially unchanged on 2025, with growth of 1.7 percent forecast for 2027. | World Steel Association, October 2026 outlook |
| India steel demand forecast, 2026 | +7.9% to 172.4 Mt | The fastest-growing major market in worldsteel's outlook, with a further 8.0 percent growth forecast for 2027. | World Steel Association, October 2026 outlook |
The benchmarks
Prices
Hot-rolled coil is the steel industry's bellwether product: the price of HRC in the United States, Europe, and China is quoted daily by price-reporting agencies and traded as futures on exchanges including CME and the Shanghai Futures Exchange. Sustained moves in HRC usually signal where mill margins and order books are heading.
Inputs
Blast furnace steelmaking runs on iron ore and coking coal, priced against seaborne benchmarks centered on 62 percent Fe iron ore delivered to China and premium hard coking coal from Australia. When input benchmarks move faster than steel prices, margins compress; when steel outruns its inputs, they widen.
Inputs
Electric arc furnaces melt scrap, and scrap grades such as shredded and heavy melt are priced regionally, with export yards setting reference points for the Atlantic basin. Scrap spreads against iron ore are the industry's running comparison between its two production routes.
Output
The World Steel Association publishes monthly crude steel production for the countries reporting to it, and the American Iron and Steel Institute publishes weekly United States production with capability utilization: the share of available capacity actually running. Utilization in the low 80s is a market working near its practical ceiling; the low 70s and below mark slack demand or outages.
News tips, company announcements, and corrections are read by the newsroom.
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