The average global production of crude steel was around 1 billion 742 million tonne from 2012 to 2021. Global crude steel production reached 1 billion and 953 million tonne in 2021, up by 4% y/y.
China, India and Japan were among the global largest producers of crude steel in 2021. China took 53% of the global total share of crude steel production in 2020, with over 1 billion and 33 million tonnes. Crude steel is produced by two methods: melting in blast furnace (BOF) and steel production in oxygen converters and direct reduction of iron ore and direct reduced iron (DRI) in electric furnaces. China has produced over 90% of its crude steel through blast furnaces (BOF).
Crude steel production methods have been accompanied by many changes due to the diversity of steel consumption in the world and the advancement of technology. In general, crude steel is produced by two methods: melting in a BOF or direct reduction of iron ore and DRI in electric furnaces. Molten steel produced by continuous casting machines is converted into billets, blooms, and slabs. The most common method of crude steel production in the world is through a BOF using iron ore and coking coal. Billet and bloom are used to produce long products such as rebar and steel sections, and slabs are used to produce flat products such as steel sheets, pipes and profiles.
The average global production of crude steel was about 1 billion and 742 million tonnes from 2012 to 2021. Global crude steel production reached 1 billion and 953 million tonnes in 2021, up by 4% y/y. Moreover, the CAGR of global crude steel production was estimated to be around 3% over the timeframe, based on Atubis calculations. Figure 1 indicates the global production of crude steel. The main global production of crude steel is concentrated in the Asian continent; so that, over 70% of the global volume is in this continent.
China, the largest producer of crude steel in the last decade
China, India and Japan were the largest global producers of crude steel in 2021. China accounted for 53% of the global crude steel production in 2020, with a share of over 1 billion and 33 million tonnes. China has also been the largest producer of crude steel in the last decade. China’s average annual production growth was 4% between 2012 and 2021. This Asian country ranked first in the global production of crude steel in 2011, with the share of around 716Mt of steel that was 46%.
India was the second largest producer of crude steel in 2021, which has a share of 6% of the global volume. India’s crude steel production has increased from 78mt in 2012 to about 118Mt in 2020, with the CAGR of around 5% over the timeframe. India ranked fourth in global production with a share of 5% of the total production. Japan has been the third largest global producer of crude steel in 2021, with 5% share. In addition, Japan ranked second in terms of crude steel production in 2012, with 7% share. However, Japan’s crude steel production fell at a CAGR of 1% over the period, which decreased from 107Mt in 2012 to around 96Mt in 2021.
The US, Russia, South Korea, Turkey, Germany, Brazil, and Iran were among the other major crude steel producers in 2020. The total share of top 10 crude steel producers of this steel semis was 83% in 2020. Among the global major crude steel producers, the share of US, Russia, South Korea, and Germany has decreased from the total production between 2012 and 2021, according to the Figure 2. Iran has the highest CAGR among the major producers. It should be mentioned that, IMIDRO was ranked 22nd among the global crude steel producers in 2021.
Crude steel in the world is produced through diverse technologies and methods. As mentioned earlier, crude steel is generally produced by two methods: melting in BOF and steel production in oxygen converters and direct reduction of iron ore and DRI in electric furnaces. It should be mentioned that, the crude steel production is also based on other methods such as the open heart method. In crude steel production through the BOF method, lump and agglomerated iron ore along with lime and coke enter the blast furnace and then crude iron or hot metal is obtained. In the next step, crude iron is converted into molten steel in a converter, carbon and other impurities are removed with the help of oxygen then crude steel is produced. In the electric furnaces method of producing crude steel, DRI is used along with steel scrap. In 2021, over 70% of the global crude steel produced by the BOF method, more than 28% of it produced by the direct reduction method and the use of electric furnaces. It is worth mentioning that, most of the steel produced is obtained by melting DRI in EAF in Iran.
The most common method of crude steel production in China, as the largest producer of in the world, is the BOF method. China produced over 90% of its crude steel through BOF in 2021. Besides that, the share of crude steel production by electric furnaces was about 9% in the same year.