Global steel production and consumption in 2020
The World Steel Association’s recently released "World Steel Statistics for 2021" shows that the global crude steel output in 2020 is 1.878 billion tons, an increase of 0.5% year-on-year, and the compound annual growth rate of crude steel output from 2015 to 2020 is 3.0%. In terms of process, in 2020, the global converter steel output will account for 73.2%, electric furnace steel will account for 26.3%, and the global average continuous casting ratio will reach 96.9%. In 2020, China's crude steel output reached 1.053 billion tons, an increase of 5.2% year-on-year, and its output accounted for 56.7%, an increase of 12.2 percentage points from 2010.
In 2020, the global export volume of steel (finished and semi-finished products) was 400 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 8.7%. The export volume accounted for 22.9% of output, which was the second lowest level only higher than 22.6% in 1975, and a decline of 2.2 percentage points from 2019. . The new crown pneumonia epidemic that swept the world in 2020 is the main reason for the decline in global steel exports and export proportions.
From the perspective of apparent consumption, the global apparent consumption of finished steel in 2020 was 1.772 billion tons, a slight decrease of 0.2% year-on-year. Among them, only China, Turkey, Brazil, and Taiwan's apparent consumption increased year-on-year, with Turkey having the highest growth rate of 13.0%. In 2020, China's apparent consumption of finished steel products was 995 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%, accounting for 56.2% of the world's share, an increase of 11.5% compared to 2010. The country with the largest decline in apparent consumption of finished steel in 2020 is Italy, which fell 20.4% year-on-year to 19.99 million tons.
In 2020, the global apparent consumption of finished steel per capita was 227.5 kg, a year-on-year decline of 1.2%. Only China, Brazil and Taiwan, China's apparent consumption per capita increased year-on-year. South Korea's per capita apparent consumption of finished steel products ranks first in the world with 954.9 kilograms, followed by Taiwan, China, with 777 kilograms, and China ranks third. In 2020, China's per capita apparent consumption of finished steel was 691.3 kg, an increase of 8.7% year-on-year, and the growth rate ranked first in the world. Venezuela, India and South Africa ranked the bottom three, with per capita apparent consumption of finished steel products of only 3 kg, 64.2 kg and 67 kg respectively.
In 2020, global pig iron production was 1.319 billion tons, a slight decrease of 0.6% year-on-year; apparent consumption was 1.32 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.0%. In 2020, global direct reduced iron production was 106 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 4.8%.
Global iron ore trade volume in 2020
In 2020, the global iron ore trade volume was 1.658 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%. Among them, China's imports of iron ore (iron ore and its concentrate) increased by 9.5% year-on-year to 1.17 billion tons, a record high, accounting for 70.6% of global trade.
In 2019, the global iron ore output was 2.336 billion tons (China's output was adjusted so that the iron content was close to the world average content), a year-on-year increase of 4.8%. Among them, Australia’s iron ore output was 919 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.0%, accounting for 39.3% of global output; Brazil’s output was 390 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 13.0%, accounting for 16.7%; China’s output was 241 million tons, A year-on-year increase of 65.5%, accounting for 10.3%; India’s output was 233 million tons, an increase of 13.7% year-on-year, accounting for 10.0%. Australia and Brazil together accounted for 56% of iron ore production. It can be seen that the global iron ore resource concentration is relatively high, which is also one of the main reasons for pushing up iron ore prices since last year.
In 2019, the global apparent consumption of iron ore was 2.316 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%. Among them, China's apparent consumption was 1.296 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 8.0%, accounting for 56.0% of the global share. India's apparent iron ore consumption in 2019 was 204 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%, accounting for 8.8% of global consumption, ranking behind China.
Global scrap trade volume in 2020
In 2020, global scrap steel exports were 98.9 million tons, down 2.3% year-on-year; imports were 96.9 million tons, down 6.4% year-on-year.
The 28 EU countries are the world's largest scrap exporter. In 2020, they exported a total of 48.9 million tons of scrap, down 1.4% year-on-year and accounting for 49.4% of the total global scrap export. From a single country perspective, the United States is the world’s largest scrap exporter. In 2020, it exported a total of 16.9 million tons of scrap steel, a decrease of 4.5% year-on-year, accounting for 17.1% of the total global scrap steel exports; followed by Japan, which exported 9.4 million tons of scrap steel, a year-on-year decrease. An increase of 22.1%, accounting for 9.5%.
Turkey is the world's largest scrap importer. In 2020, it imported a total of 22.4 million tons of scrap steel, an increase of 19.1% year-on-year, accounting for 23.1% of the world's total scrap imports.
In 2020, China's scrap import and export trade volume will be zero. As China lifted the restrictions on the import of recycled steel raw materials from January 1, 2021, China's imports of recycled steel raw materials have gradually increased. According to the latest customs data, from January to April 2021, China's imports of recycled steel raw materials totaled 131,300 tons. The monthly imports from January to April were 4,100 tons, 5,500 tons, 45,600 tons, and 76,300 tons. Since March, China's imports of recycled steel raw materials have increased significantly.
