In response, China stated its intent to reduce steel output, pledging to remove some 150 million tons per year of steel production capacity by 2020. A number of trade petitions have been made in recent years from North America and Europe addressing China’s excess capacity. The country exports about 100 million tons worldwide every year and therefore has great influence on global steel markets. The next closest to China is Japan with 104 million tons in 2017 followed by India and the United States with 99 and 82 million tons produced respectively.Ĭhina’s steel mills produce around one-half of the world’s steel. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the largest producer of steel in the world is by far and away China, with an estimated 843 million tons in 2017. Before we can get into the history of steel and discuss its importance to our daily lives, we should take a look at global production of iron and steel, as there has been a series of very interesting developments recently that have the potential to greatly impact the steel industry, but also the global economy.

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