World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the Brussels-based World Steel Association totaled 125 million metric tons in August, 9.8 percent higher than August 2010.

The world crude steel capacity utilization ratio of the 64 countries in August was 77.5 percent, 2.1 percentage points lower than in the previous month. Compared to August 2010, however, the month’s utilization ratio was up 3.5 percentage points.

The U.S. produced 7.5 million tons of crude steel in August, an increase of 13.8 percent compared to August 2010. China’s crude steel production for August was 58.8 million tons, an increase of 13.8 percent compared to August 2010.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan produced 8.9 million tons of crude steel in August, a slight increase of 0.1 percent compared to the same month last year. South Korea’s crude steel production for August was 5.5 million tons, up 19.3 percent compared to August 2010.

In the EU, Germany’s crude steel production for August was 3.6 million tons, an increase of 5.3 percent from the previous year. Italy produced 1.4 million tons of crude steel in August, 25.6 percent higher than August 2010. Spain’s crude steel production for August was 1.1 million tons, down 7.6 percent from the previous year. France produced 1.0 million tons of crude steel in August, an increase of 19.7 percent compared to August 2010.

Brazilian crude steel production for August was 3.0 million tons, 1.5 percent higher than August 2010.