The 1696th issue of the bulletin "Branches of the Russian Economy: Production, Finance, Securities. Ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy" of the AK&M News Agency.
In August 2026, global steel production continued to decline. According to the World Steel Association (WSA), 144.2 million tons of steel were smelted during the period, which is 1.2% lower than the same indicator in 2025 and 3.4% less than the total of the previous month (see Figure 1.1). At the same time, the average daily smelting, which amounted to 4,652 million tons in August, decreased by 3.35% compared to July, which was the lowest value of this indicator since the beginning of this year. At the same time, China's share in the total smelting volume was 53.2%.
In January-August 2026, Russia reduced steel production by 5.1% compared to a year earlier, to 43.8 million tons, retaining fifth place among metal—producing countries (according to the WSA). China reduced steel production by 3.1% to 651.9 million tons. In Japan, steel production decreased by 0.2% to 54 million tons. At the same time, India increased steel production by 6% to 115.9 million tons, Turkey — by 6.3% to 26.6 million tons, and Vietnam — by 29.1% to 20.6 million tons. In the USA, steel production increased by 5.5% to 57.5 million tons during this period. In South Korea, smelting increased by 2.8% to 42.8 million tons. Germany also increased smelting: by 6.3%, to 23.9 million tons. According to the WSA, 5.5 million tons of steel were smelted in Russia in July, which is 0.3% less than a year earlier.
The index of production in the extraction of metal ores in Russia in August 2026 increased by 9.8% compared to August 2025, and in January-August — by 4.1%. The production of iron ore concentrate in August amounted to 7.1 million tons (0.2%). Production of lead concentrates decreased by 35.9% in August, while production of gold—bearing concentrates increased by 17.5%. Gold production in August increased by 3.2% compared to the same period in 2025. In August 2026, Russia reduced silver production by 10.4% compared to August last year.
The index of metallurgical production in Russia in August 2026 decreased by 11.6% compared to August 2025, and increased by 4.5% compared to the previous month. According to Rosstat, in August 2026, 5.7 million tons of steel of all types were smelted in Russia, which is 3.6% higher than the result of August 2025. Pig iron production in August 2026 increased by 4.8% compared to the same month in 2025, and the output of rolled ferrous metals increased by 3.9%.
The composite index of the Moscow ferrous metals market went down at the end of September. So, on September 20, 2026, the index index was 920.89, compared with 956.71 on August 20, 2026. In general, for the whole of 2026, the index increased by 123.32 percentage points from 797.57 as of December 31, 2025.
Read more about trends in metallurgy in issue No. 1696 of the monthly bulletin "Branches of the Russian Economy: Manufacturing, Finance, Securities. Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metallurgy" by the AK&M News Agency dated October 28, 2026.
