Largest steel producers worldwide based on production volume 2020

In 2020, China’s Baowu Group was ranked as the world’s largest steel producer. China Baowu Group produced around 115 million metric tons of crude steel that year, close to 37 million metric tons more than ArcelorMittal, which was second in the ranking.

The importance of steel

Not only is steel one of the most common metal alloys, but it is also one of the most extensively applied materials, particularly in shipbuilding and car manufacturing, as well as building construction and infrastructure development. In an effort to save cost and make the energy-thirsty steel industry more environmentally benign, steel scrap is collected from waste streams, wrecked automobiles, dismantled buildings or other industrial sources and is melted into new products. Steel has one of the highest recycling rates among metals.

Difficult times

Beginning in 2009, the steel industry has been experiencing challenging years including the upheaval in the U.S. financial markets, slowing construction spending in China in tandem with a glut of Chinese steel, political instability in Russia and Ukraine, growing trade tensions between the United States and trade partners, as well as the eurozone sovereign debt crisis. 2020 saw a further decline in global production as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The health crisis lead to a downturn in steel demand and a hike in metal prices, which further impacted most companies in the first quarters of 2020. The overall optimistic fourth quarter of that year did not offset the dip in production.