Global steelmaking capacity in slow growth: WSA

Global crude steelmaking capacity has entered a relatively stable phase since 2014, and a mild increase of 124 million tonnes (mnt) of new capacity will be added during 2024-2026, Zhong Shaoliang, Deputy Director General of World Steel Association (WSA), shared at the 18th International Iron Ore Market Seminar in Qingdao in East China's Shandong on 14 March.

Previously, the capacity has hovered at around 2.45 billion tonnes (bnt) for years after 2014 and reached a high of 2.5 bnt last year, Zhong cited the data by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Despite potential capacity growth in the future, the space for such expansion will gradually narrow due to global low-carbon initiatives, according to Zhao.

Looking ahead, Zhong predicted that Asian countries such as India and major ASEAN countries will be the top contributors to the global new capacity by 2026 through the blast furnace route, with a combined total of 70 mnt.

"Unlike the past 30 years, India and ASEAN countries will replace China as the primary contributors to the increase in global steel production capacity in the coming decades," he said.

Fundamentally, both China's apparent consumption and production of steel will move within a limited range of their peak levels in the medium term as a result of its population shrinking and ageing, Wu Yong, an official from the China Iron and Steel Association told delegates earlier at the seminar.

Furthermore, steelmakers in Europe, North America and the Middle East will develop new steelmaking capacity based on electric-arc furnace (EAF) in the coming three years, Zhong added.

However, Zhong also expressed uncertainty about the potential for a substantial increase in the proportion of EAF steel production in the foreseeable future, citing that such proportion is currently at its lowest level in 50 years.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between MySteel Global and BigMint.