After the 4 per cent reduction in global crude steel output seen in 2022, the first drop in steel production since 2015, production volumes stabilised in 2023. At 1.88 billion tonnes, crude steel output was almost exactly the same as the previous year, according to figures released by the World Steel Association. The association data revealed, however, that the performance of the steel industry varied from country to country and region to region.
China, the world's largest steel-making nation, produced around the same amount of crude steel as in the previous year, approximately 1.02 billion tonnes. Most European countries reported decreases. Germany's crude steel output fell by just under 4 per cent while production in Italy and Spain declined by around 2.5 per cent. In France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the Netherlands, the decline exceeded 10 per cent, while Slovakia and Finland bucked the downward trend and reported increased steel output.
India - second largest steel producer after China – also saw a sharp rise of 12 per cent in steel production which brought its output to 140 million tonnes in 2023. Russia was also able to significantly increase its production volume, boosting output by around 6 per cent to 76 million tonnes, while Ukraine's crude steel output fell again in the second year shaped by Russia's invasion. At 6.2 million tonnes, Ukraine produced almost 70 per cent less steel in 2023 than before the war.
Among the other major steel-producing countries, South Korea (+1.3 per cent), Iran (+1.8 per cent) and the US (+0.2 per cent) recorded slight production increases. In contrast, Japan (-2.5 per cent), Turkey (-4.0 per cent) and Brazil (-6.5 per cent) manufactured less crude steel than in 2022.
