​China’s crude steel production for August 2013 was 66.3 Mt, up by 12.8% compared to August 2012. In the EU, Germany produced 3.2 Mt of crude steel in August 2013, a decrease of -6.3% compared to August 2012. France’s crude steel production was 1.2 Mt, up by 21.7% on August 2012. (Photo: BHP Billiton - Iron ore mining - Western Australia iron ore) In August 2013, Russia produced 5.8 Mt of crude steel, a decrease of -1.9% compared to the same month last year. The US produced 7.4 Mt of crude steel in August 2013, down by -2.9% compared to August 2012. The crude steel capacity utilisation ratio for the 64 countries in August 2013 was 75.4% and it is a 1.0 percentage point higher compared to August 2012.