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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 2023.
The table is shown below.
| Country | 2023 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Tonnage | Rank | Tonnage | |
| China | 1 | 1019.0 | 1 | 1019.0 |
| India | 2 | 140.4 | 2 | 125.3 |
| Japan | 3 | 86.9 | 3 | 89.2 |
| United States | 4 | 81.3 | 4 | 80.5 |
| Russia | 5 | 76.0 | 5 | 71.7 |
| South Korea | 6 | 66.6 | 6 | 65.8 |
| Germany | 7 | 35.4 | 7 | 36.8 |
| Türkiye | 8 | 33.7 | 8 | 35.1 |
| Brazil | 9 | 31.9 | 9 | 34.1 |
| Iran | 10 | 31.0 | 10 | 30.6 |
| Italy | 11 | 21.0 | 11 | 21.6 |
| Viet Nam | 12 | 19.2 | 13 | 20.0 |
| Taiwan, China | 13 | 19.1 | 12 | 20.8 |
| Mexico | 14 | 16.1 | 14 | 18.4 |
| Indonesia(e) | 15 | 16.0 | 15 | 15.6 |
| Canada | 16 | 12.3 | 17 | 12.1 |
| Spain | 17 | 11.4 | 18 | 11.6 |
| Egypt | 18 | 10.4 | 20 | 9.8 |
| France | 19 | 10.0 | 16 | 12.1 |
| Saudi Arabia(e) | 20 | 9.9 | 19 | 9.9 |
| Malaysia(e) | 21 | 7.5 | 23 | 7.2 |
| Austria | 22 | 7.1 | 21 | 7.5 |
| Poland | 23 | 6.4 | 22 | 7.4 |
| Ukraine | 24 | 6.2 | 25 | 6.3 |
| Belgium | 25 | 5.9 | 24 | 7.0 |
| United Kingdom | 26 | 5.6 | 28 | 6.0 |
| Bangladesh(e) | 27 | 5.5 | 31 | 5.2 |
| Australia | 28 | 5.5 | 29 | 5.6 |
| Pakistan | 29 | 5.3 | 27 | 6.0 |
| Thailand | 30 | 5.0 | 30 | 5.3 |
| Argentina | 31 | 4.9 | 32 | 5.1 |
| South Africa(e) | 32 | 4.9 | 34 | 4.4 |
| Netherlands | 33 | 4.7 | 26 | 6.1 |
| Slovakia | 34 | 4.5 | 38 | 3.9 |
| Algeria(e) | 35 | 4.4 | 35 | 4.3 |
| Sweden | 36 | 4.3 | 33 | 4.4 |
| Kazakhstan | 37 | 3.9 | 37 | 4.2 |
| United Arab Emirates | 38 | 3.8 | 41 | 3.2 |
| Finland | 39 | 3.8 | 39 | 3.5 |
| Czechia | 40 | 3.4 | 36 | 4.3 |
| Oman(e) | 41 | 2.9 | 42 | 2.9 |
| Iraq | 42 | 2.8 | 40 | 3.3 |
| Belarus(e) | 43 | 2.3 | 44 | 2.1 |
| Portugal | 44 | 2.1 | 46 | 1.9 |
| Luxembourg | 45 | 1.9 | 45 | 1.9 |
| Perù | 46 | 1.8 | 47 | 1.8 |
| Philippines(e) | 47 | 1.7 | 49 | 1.6 |
| Romania | 48 | 1.6 | 43 | 2.6 |
| Serbia | 49 | 1.5 | 48 | 1.7 |
| Morocco | 50 | 1.4 | 50 | 1.6 |
| World | 1891.2 | 1889.5 | ||
World crude steel production for the 71 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 1891.2 million tons in 2023, remaining stable compared to 2022.
China is outstripping all other nations as the highest steel producing country in the world: more than half of the 1891.2 million tons of crude steel produced worldwide in 2023 comes from steel mills located on Chinese soil. Following China are India and Japan; of the two, the former increased its production (from 125.4 to 140.2), while the latter experienced yet another slight decrease (from 89.2 to 87.0). Similarly to India, the U.S., Russia, and South Korea, sitting respectively in the 4th, 5th, and 6th position, also had a moderate increase in their steel output.
Italy retained its position at 11th place, despite a slight decrease in production (from 21.6 Mt in 2022 to 21.1 in 2023). Morocco closes the top 50, with 1.5 million tons produced.
One of the most significant highlights in last year’s top 50 was the sharp decline in Ukraine's steel production due to the impact of the war with Russia. As the conflict keeps raging on, the country, featured in 2023’s table at the 24th position, hasn’t recovered yet.
