This graph shows the world's largest steel producers in 2015, ranked by production volume. Luxembourg-based steel company ArcelorMittal produced around 97 million metric tons worth of crude steel that year.
The world’s largest steel producers
Not only is steel one of the most common metals, 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. 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, political instability in Russia and Ukraine, as well as the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, which continues to persist with Greece on the verge of a debt default and a possible exit. It is expected that 2020 will see moderate recovery in worldwide steel demand. In 2015, Luxembourg’s ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation of Japan and China’s Hesteel were ranked as the world’s largest steel producers.
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.
