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Who rules the steel industry: the top 50 steel producers
According to the latest data published by the World Steel Association, the list of the world's top steelmakers has seen some minor reshuffling in 2022 compared to 2021.
China Baowu Group keeps the throne for this year as the world’s largest steel producer, immediately followed by ArcelorMittal; Ansteel Group also maintained its position on the podium at the third place.
The only significant changes in the top 10 steelmakers list are in the 6th and 7th rankings, with HBIS Group and POSCO Holdings swapping places, and the latter losing one position due to a slight reduction in output.
The Asian continent still dominates the ranking, in particular, China with 27 steel producers out of 50. To find an EU-based company – other than ArcelorMittal – we have to scroll down to the 43rd position, under thyssenkrupp. The first American steel mill, instead, is Nucor Corporation, in the 16th position (previously 15th). JSW Steel Limited's rise from 19th place in 2021 to 15th place in 2022 is the most significant variation in the ranking. The Indian company witnessed a notable increase in production from 18.59 Mt to 23.38 Mt, which allowed it to climb several positions in the global hierarchy of steel producers. IMIDRO from Iran, combining Mobarakeh Steel, Esfahan Steel, Khuzestan Steel and NISCO, also moved up a few ranks, earning the 20th position.
In general, we can observe that while some companies have experienced a decline in output from 2021 to 2022, such as ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel Corporation, there are also businesses that have shown an increase in production, including China Baowu Group and JSW Steel Limited.
| Mt | Ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HQ | 2022 | 2021 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| China Baowu Group | China | 131.84 | 130.56 | 1 | 1 |
| ArcelorMittal | Luxembourg | 68.89 | 79.26 | 2 | 2 |
| Ansteel Group | China | 55.65 | 55.65 | 3 | 3 |
| Nippon Steel Corporation | Japan | 44.37 | 49.46 | 4 | 4 |
| Shagang Group | China | 41.45 | 44.23 | 5 | 5 |
| HBIS Group | China | 41.00 | 41.64 | 6 | 7 |
| POSCO Holdings | South Korea | 38.64 | 42.96 | 7 | 6 |
| Jianlong Group | China | 36.56 | 36.71 | 8 | 8 |
| Shougang Group | China | 33.82 | 35.43 | 9 | 9 |
| Tata Steel | India | 30.18 | 30.59 | 10 | 10 |
| Shandong Steel Group | China | 29.42 | 28.25 | 11 | 11 |
| Delong Steel | China | 27.90 | 27.82 | 12 | 12 |
| Hunan Steel Group (5) | China | 26.43 | 26.21 | 13 | 14 |
| JFE Steel Corporation | Japan | 26.20 | 26.85 | 14 | 13 |
| JSW Steel Limited | India | 23.38 | 18.59 | 15 | 19 |
| Nucor Corporation | United States | 20.60 | 23.13(r) | 16 | 15 |
| Fangda Steel | China | 19.70 | 19.98 | 17 | 16 |
| Hyundai Steel | South Korea | 18.77 | 19.64 | 18 | 17 |
| Liuzhou Steel | China | 18.21 | 18.83 | 19 | 18 |
| IMIDRO (6) | Iran | 18.00(e) | 16.70(e) | 20 | 23 |
| Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) | India | 17.93 | 17.33 | 21 | 21 |
| Cleveland-Cliffs | United States | 16.80 | 18.30 | 22 | 20 |
| Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) | Russia | 16.00(e) | 17.29 | 23 | 22 |
| Rizhao Steel | China | 15.63 | 13.57 | 24 | 33 |
| CITIC Pacific | China | 15.03 | 13.97 | 25 | 31 |
| Techint Group | Argentina | 14.86 | 14.91 | 26 | 28 |
| United States Steel Corporation | United States | 14.49 | 16.30 | 27 | 25 |
| Shenglong Metallurgical | China | 14.21 | 12.16 | 28 | 38 |
| Baotou Steel | China | 14.18 | 16.45 | 29 | 24 |
| Jingye Group | China | 13.97 | 15.38 | 30 | 27 |
| China Steel Corporation | Taiwan, China | 13.96 | 15.95 | 31 | 26 |
| Sinogiant Group | China | 13.95 | 14.34 | 32 | 29 |
| Tsingshan Holding | China | 13.92 | 12.37 | 33 | 37 |
| Gerdau S.A. | Brazil | 13.90 | 14.20 | 34 | 30 |
| EVRAZ | Russia | 12.50(e) | 13.57 | 35 | 34 |
| Zenith Steel | China | 12.23 | 12.76 | 36 | 35 |
| Shaanxi Steel | China | 12.17 | 12.39 | 37 | 36 |
| Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) | Russia | 11.69 | 13.59 | 38 | 32 |
| Anyang Steel | China | 11.18 | 9.50 | 39 | 46 |
| Sanming Steel | China | 11.03 | 11.40 | 40 | 42 |
| Nanjing Steel | China | 11.00 | 11.58 | 41 | 40 |
| Severstal | Russia | 10.69 | 11.65 | 42 | 39 |
| thyssenkrupp | Germany | 9.93 | 11.04 | 43 | 43 |
| Steel Dynamics, Inc. | United States | 9.73 | 8.93 | 44 | 48 |
| Donghai Special Steel | China | 9.65 | 10.42 | 45 | 44 |
| Jiuquan Steel | China | 9.01 | 8.75 | 46 | 49 |
| Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) | India | 8.01 | 7.98 | 47 | 52 |
| Erdemir Group | Türkiye | 7.79 | 9.02 | 48 | 47 |
| Jinxi Steel | China | 7.43 | 7.46 | 49 | 57 |
| voestalpine Group | Austria | 7.42 | 7.86 | 50 | 53 |
(e) estimate; (r) revised
The data for Worldsteel members was obtained from their official tonnage declaration, while the official CISA tonnage publication was used for Chinese companies. When a company has more than 50% ownership of a subsidiary, the entire tonnage of the subsidiary is included. In cases where ownership ranges from 30% to 50%, the tonnage is included proportionally. It is important to note that ownership below 30% is considered a minority interest and is not included unless stated otherwise.
Click here to check the complete list of the top steelmakers in 2022 >>
Moving on to the major steel-producing countries, unsurprisingly, China is still in the lead with 101.8 million tons of crude steel produced in 2022 (about 17.2 Mt less than in 2021), followed by India (125.3), Japan (89.2), the United States (80.5) and Russia (71.5). Germany took Turkey's place in 7th position with 36.8 million tons, while Italy maintained its standing at 11th place with 21.6 Mt.
