World steel, new facts and figures released

China, Japan, India, USA, Russia are the five major countries producing steel in the whole world. The data come from the World Steel Association, which released on May 27 the World Steel in Figures 2016 report. The publication provides a comprehensive overview of the activities of the steel industry, from crude steel production to global trade flows. The report also lists the top steel-producing companies (Arcelor Mittal being no. 1 with 97.136 million tonnes) and the nations that have the greatest per capita steel consumption (South Korea has ranking no. 1 with 1,113.6 kg/year).

Overcapacity is still a problem, and the global economy is going through a difficult phase as markets adjust to slower levels of Chinese growth. But, according to Dr Edwin Basson, Director General of worldsteel, "given the expected population increase, emerging new applications for steel and new markets developing, (...) we will again have growth in the steel industry."   World crude steel production reached 1,621 million tonnes (Mt) for the year 2015, down by 2.9% compared to 2014. In 2015, China accounted for 44.8% of the global market for steel (by volume), compared to 45.9% in 2014.


The PDF can be downloaded from the website at this link.