New Delhi, Sep 27 (IANS): Production of crude steel in India in August declined 4.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 8.48 million tonne (Mt), according to data from the World Steel Association.

During the same period last year, India had produced 8.87 million tonne of crude steel.

Globally, however, crude steel production marked a marginal rise and China recorded 8.4 per cent increase at 94.8 million tonne.

In a statement, the World Steel Association said that total steel production for the 64 countries reporting to it was 156.2 million tonne in August 2020, a 0.6 per cent increase compared to August 2019.

It further noted that due to the ongoing difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the estimates may be revised with next month's production update.

"China produced 94.8 Mt of crude steel in August 2020, an increase of 8.4 per cent compared to August 2019. India produced 8.5 Mt of crude steel in August 2020, down 4.4 per cent on August 2019," it said.

Japan produced 6.4 million tonne of crude steel in August 2020, down 20.6 per cent compared to August 2019. South Korea's steel production was 5.8 million tonne in August, down by 1.8 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

Germany produced 2.8 million tonne of crude steel in August 2020, down 13.4 per cent.

The US produced 5.6 million tonne of crude steel in August 2020, a decrease of 24.4 per cent compared to August 2019.