Down by One Notch
POSCO fell to sixth place in the world's crude steel production in 2020, down one notch compared with 2019. Chinese steelmakers moved up the rankings by sharply increasing crude steel production as they quickly overcame the COVID-19 crisis.
POSCO's crude steel production amounted to 40.58 million tons in 2020, down 5.9 percent compared to 2019, according to Steel in Figures 2021 published by the World Steel Association (WSA) on June 7.
Hyundai Steel saw its crude steel production fall 8.1 percent on year to 19.81 million tons, falling from 15th place in 2019 to 16th place in 2020.
POSCO and Hyundai Steel responded with flexible operation as demand plummeted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In particular, POSCO's production volume naturally sank as it coincided with the timing of readjusting the interior space of Furnace #3 at Gwangyang Steelworks from 4,600 square meters to 5,500 square meters. Hyundai Steel also gave up its hot-rolled thin-plate production at electric furnaces.
On the other hand, a notable advance was made by Chinese companies, which declared the end of the COVID-19 situation ahead of other countries. Seven Chinese companies were included in the top 10 list, including China Baowu Group which took first place.
China's HBIS Group (43.8 million tons) and Shagang Group (41.59 million tons) ranked third and fourth, followed by Ansteel Group (38.19 million tons), Jianlong Group (36.47 million tons), Shougang Group (34 million tons) and Shandong Steel Group (3,111 million tons).
Global crude steel production reached 1,878 million tons in 2020, up 0.5 percent from 2019. China accounted for 56.7 percent of the total production, up 7.0 percent from 1,064.8 million tons during the same period, followed by India (1,000.3 million tons), Japan (83.2 million tons), the United States (72.7 million tons) and Russia (71.6 million tons). Korea maintained 6th place with a total production of 67.1 million tons.