IRNA - Iranian steel mills produced a total of 4.24 million tons of crude steel during the first two months of 2019, up 7.6% compared with the corresponding period of 2018, IMIDRO said, citing the latest report released by the World Steel Association.

Iran’s January and February steel output was 4.245 million tons in total, way more than 3.945 million tons of the same period last year.

February output grew 21.7% year-on-year to hit 2.01 million tons.

The world's 64 steelmakers produced a total of 287.6 million tons of steel over the two months, up 3.8% year-on-year.

China was the world’s largest crude steel producer with 149.58 million tons of steel output, up 9.2 percent year on year.

China was followed by India with 17.92 million tons, Japan with 15.88 million tons, the United States with 14.41 million tons, South Korea with 11.84 million tons, Russia with 11.02 million tons, Germany with 6.57 million tons and Brazil with 5.2 million tons.

Iran's world ranking was unchanged since December, as it remained at the 10th spot in Worldsteel's latest report. The country is placed between Turkey (ninth) with 5.2 million tons and Italy (11th) with 4 million tons.