Global chromium production has gone through an upward trend during the last 5 years. The average of its global production was around 38,4mt in 2017-21 and has increased by 7% annually. Chromium is an important element for stainless steel production. Most of this kind of steel contains 18% of chromium.
The largest chromium producers were South Africa producing 18mt, Turkiye and Kazakhstan with 7mt chromium production, and Finland with 2,3mt in 2021, and China, as the largest consumer, has imported the highest amount of chromium from South Africa.