The steel planisphere: the major steel-producing countries
Today steel is one of the most used materials in the world: but where is this iron-carbon alloy so prevalent in the objects surrounding us produced?
The World Steel Association recently published the ranking of the 50 largest crude steel-producing countries for 2024.
The table is shown below.
| Country | 2024 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Tonnage | Rank | Tonnage | |
| China | 1 | 1005.1 | 1 | 1022.5 |
| India | 2 | 149.6 | 2 | 140.8 |
| Japan | 3 | 84.0 | 3 | 87.0 |
| United States | 4 | 79.5 | 4 | 81.4 |
| Russia | 5 | 70.7 | 5 | 76.0 |
| South Korea | 6 | 63.5 | 6 | 66.7 |
| Germany | 7 | 37.2 | 7 | 35.4 |
| Türkiye | 8 | 36.9 | 8 | 33.7 |
| Brazil | 9 | 33.7 | 9 | 32.0 |
| Iran | 10 | 31.0 | 10 | 30.7 |
| Viet Nam | 11 | 22.1 | 12 | 19.2 |
| Italy | 12 | 20.0 | 11 | 21.1 |
| Taiwan, China | 13 | 19.1 | 13 | 19.1 |
| Indonesia | 14 | 17.0 | 14 | 16.8 |
| Mexico | 15 | 13.7 | 15 | 16.4 |
| Canada | 16 | 12.2 | 16 | 12.2 |
| Spain | 17 | 11.8 | 17 | 11.4 |
| France | 18 | 10.8 | 19 | 10.0 |
| Egypt | 19 | 10.7 | 18 | 10.4 |
| Saudi Arabia | 20 | 9.6 | 20 | 9.9 |
| Malaysia | 21 | 8.8 | 21 | 7.5 |
| Ukraine | 22 | 7.6 | 24 | 6.2 |
| Austria | 23 | 7.1 | 22 | 7.1 |
| Belgium | 24 | 7.1 | 25 | 5.9 |
| Poland | 25 | 7.1 | 23 | 6.4 |
| Netherlands | 26 | 6.4 | 33 | 4.7 |
| Thailand | 27 | 4.9 | 30 | 5.0 |
| Australia | 28 | 4.8 | 28 | 5.5 |
| South Africa | 29 | 4.7 | 32 | 5.0 |
| Algeria | 30 | 4.5 | 34 | 4.4 |
| Bangladesh | 31 | 4.5 | 27 | 5.0 |
| Kazakhstan | 32 | 4.2 | 37 | 3.9 |
| Pakistan | 33 | 4.1 | 29 | 5.3 |
| Sweden | 34 | 4.0 | 36 | 4.3 |
| United Kingdom | 35 | 4.0 | 26 | 5.6 |
| Slovakia | 36 | 3.9 | 35 | 4.4 |
| Argentina | 37 | 3.9 | 31 | 4.9 |
| United Arab Emirates | 38 | 3.7 | 39 | 3.8 |
| Finland | 39 | 3.7 | 38 | 3.8 |
| Oman | 40 | 3.0 | 41 | 2.9 |
| Iraq | 41 | 3.0 | 42 | 2.7 |
| Czechia | 42 | 2.5 | 40 | 3.3 |
| Belarus | 43 | 2.3 | 43 | 2.3 |
| Portugal | 44 | 1.9 | 44 | 2.0 |
| Philippines | 45 | 1.9 | 47 | 1.6 |
| Luxembourg | 46 | 1.8 | 45 | 1.9 |
| Others | 47 | 1.6 | 49 | 1.4 |
| Perù | 48 | 1.5 | 46 | 1.7 |
| Kenya | 49 | 1.5 | 52 | 1.3 |
| Morocco | 50 | 1.4 | 50 | 1.3 |
| World | 1882.6 | 1892.0 | ||
World crude steel production for the 71 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 1882.6 million tons in 2024, remaining stable compared to 2023.
China is still outstripping all other nations as the largest steel-producing country in the world: more than half of the 1882.6 million tons of crude steel produced worldwide in 2024 comes from steel mills located on Chinese soil. Following China are India and Japan; of the two, the former continued to increase its production (from 140.2 to 149.6), while the latter experienced another 3.4% decrease (from 87.0 to 84.0). Similarly to Japan, the U.S., Russia, and South Korea, sitting respectively in the 4th, 5th, and 6th position, also had a moderate drop in their steel output.
Italy was knocked off by Vietnam from 11th to 12th place, following a 5% decline in production (from 21.1 Mt in 2023 to 20.0 in 2024). Morocco closes the top 50, with 1.41 million tons produced.
One of the most noteworthy highlights is the Netherlands’ climb to the 26th position, bolstered by a whopping +36% surge in crude steel production compared to the previous year.
In contrast, the UK’s performance was much less encouraging, slipping from 26th to 35th place due a stark -29% decline.
