Production and Demand
According to the World Steel Association on May 31, POSCO ranked fifth in melted iron production among global steelmakers last year. The merger of Baosteel and Wuhan Steel in China created the world's second-largest national steel group last year, sending down POSCO by one notch in world melted iron production standings. China consumed 45.0% of the world's steel products last year. However, South Korea came in first in the consumption of steel per capita with 1130kg.
POSCO's production of melted iron sank to 5th place from 4th place in 2015. POSCO’s production of fused iron hit 41.56 million tons, edging down from 41.97 million tons in 2015. Fused iron is iron manufactured in a blast furnace but not processed yet.
ArcelorMittal topped the list with a production volume of 95.45 million tons. The second spot was taken by the Baowu Group of China born out of a merger between China’s Baosteel (5th place in 2015) and Wuhan Steel (11th place in 2015). The Baowu Group chalked up 63.81 million tons. China's HBIS Group placed third with 46.18 million tons.
The HBIS Group placed second in 2015, but was relegated by the Baowu Group while Japan's NSSNC Group also produced 46.16 million tons, falling to the fourth from the third. Hyundai Steel Company recorded 20.09 million tons in crude steel production, standing 13th.
Last year, global production of fused iron inched up to 1,629.6 million tons from 1.62 billion tons in 2015. China's production amounted to 800.84 million tons, accounting for about the half of the world's total. China’s production volume itself in 2016 inched up from 800.38 million tons in 2015.
China was followed by Japan (2nd), India (3rd), the USA (4th), Russia (5th) and South Korea (6th). South Korea maintained 6th place with 68.6 million tons, but its production dipped 1.6% from 69.7 million tons in 2015.