Monthly Report: Top 5 steel-producing countries worldwide, 2020-2022

China remains the global leader in crude steel production, with March 2022 reaching 88.3 million metric tons, down only 6.1 percent from its production in March the year before. India, Japan, United States, and Russia follow distantly.

China as the global leader

With a recorded 99.5 million metric tons of crude steel yield, May 2021 remains the highest production peak for China to date. Despite a subsequent drop in production over the following months, China has remained the global leader in crude steel production. Since November 2021, China's production has been steadily rebounding, with March 2022 reaching 88.3 million metric tons, down only 6.1 percent from its production in March the year before.

Crude Steel Production Worldwide

Production in Russia has remained relatively stable throughout the pandemic, despite the demand for steel dropping in 2019. India saw a drop in crude steel production by 65.4 percent between February 2020 and April that same year. Japan and the United States also suffered a dip in production in April of 2020, though not as severe as in India. After the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, steel production in India has been fluctuating yet steadily increasing, reaching a recorded 10.9 million metric tons of crude steel in March 2022—a 233 percent increase from April 2020. Japan and the United States have also been steadily increasing, recording a production yield of 8.0 and 7.0 million metric tons in March 2022, respectively.