By Maytaal Angel
LONDON (Reuters) - Global crude steel output jumped 4.6 percent to 1,808.6 million tonnes in 2018, while output in top steel producer China rose by 6.6 percent, data from the World Steel Association (worldsteel) showed on Friday.
China, which produces half the world's steel, had output of 928.3 million tonnes last year, compared with 870.9 million tonnes in 2017, said worldsteel, whose members account for about 85 percent of global output.
All other regions recorded output growth except for the European Union, where production fell 0.3 percent to 168.1 million tonnes. The steel industry, worth about $900 billion a year, is seen as a gauge of economic health.
Output in India, the world's second largest steel producer, rose 4.9 percent to 106.5 million tonnes, while production in Japan, the world's third largest steelmaker, fell 0.3 percent to 104.3 million tonnes.
In the United States, the world's fourth largest producer, output rose 6.2 percent to 86.7 million tonnes amid strong economic growth and as Washington slapped a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports.