Steel Industry - Statistics & Facts

With 2016 steel revenue of around 57 billion U.S. dollars, Luxembourg-based steel maker ArcelorMittal is currently the world’s largest steel producing company. U.S.-based companies Nucor and U.S. Steel also made the list.

Steel is an alloy which mainly consists of iron but is typically made by combining iron and other elements. These additional elements coupled with the right temperature play a crucial role when it comes to changing the metal's properties in terms of strength, toughness, ductility, weldability and durability. The perfect combination of iron and other elements, including manganese, carbon or base metals such as nickel and copper, help produce the type of steel that is the best fit for a certain need. The most widespread methods to alter the properties of steel include annealing, tempering, quenching and peening, as well as hot or cold rolling. Steel plays an essential role in infrastructure development and building construction, as well as in car manufacturing and shipbuilding. In light of increasing environmental awareness, it has to be emphasized that this ferrous metal is one of the most widely recycled materials worldwide. About 1.6 billion metric tons of crude steel was produced globally in 2016. That year, worldwide consumption of steel scrap came to around 560 million metric tons.

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