The Brussels-based World Steel Association (Worldsteel) says the nations reporting figures to it produced some 1.95 billion metric tons of steel in 2021, representing a 3.7 increase in output from the prior year.
The uptick occurred despite China, which makes about half the world’s steel, scaling back its output by 3.0 percent last year. While China may have reached peak steel output associated with its rapid urbanization and transportation buildout, steel producers in other nations experienced double-digit boosts in output associated with a rebound from COVID-19 and related restrictions in 2020.
The world’s next three largest producers after China—India, Japan and the United States—each experienced output increases from 15 percent to 19 percent. The European Union also witnessed an output rise of more than 15 percent.
Turkey, a prominent buyer of ferrous scrap on the world stage, saw its steel output rise by more than 12 percent in 2021 compared with the year before. Another ferrous scrap importing nation, Pakistan, enjoyed a nearly 40 percent rise in steel output.
Nations with more modest increases in steel production included Russia (6.1 percent), South Korea (5.2 percent) and the United Kingdom (3.9 percent). Only a few nations joined China by logging decreased output, including Indonesia (-2.9 percent), Iran (-1.8 percent) and Malaysia (-1.8 percent).