8 Companies Retain WSA’s Top Producer Ranking for 3 Years

Steel plays a vital role in the modern world. In addition to being one of the most important materials for building and infrastructure, it is the enabler of a wide range of manufacturing activities.
As per the latest data released by the World Steel Association (WSA), India is the world’s second-largest steel producing country replacing Japan in calendar year (CY) 2018. Also, six Indian steel makers are on the list of the top 100 steel-making companies in the world.

WSA updates this list every year in May-June. In CY18’s list of top steel makers, a total of 107 steel producers of the world, with tonnage of more than 3 MnT in 2018, were ranked.
Importantly, ArcelorMittal continues to remain the largest steel maker in the world with a production volume of 96 MnT in CY18.

It is also observed that companies like ArcelorMittal, China Baowu Group, Nippon Steel Corporation, HBIS Group, POSCO, Shagang Group, Ansteel Group and JFE Steel Corporation are the top eight steel makers in the world and they are holding their present rankings for the last three years, since calendar year 2016 (CY16). However, except for ArcelorMittal’s production, that of all the other companies has grown marginally year on year (y-o-y).

Top 10 Global Steel Producers in CY18

1. ArcelorMittal

The world’s leading integrated steel-making company, ArcelorMittal, continues to maintain its position in CY18 and remained the top steel maker with 96.42 MnT in CY18 compared to 97.03 MnT in the previous year. The company’s production decreased a marginal 0.63% in CY18 against CY17.

2. China Baowu Group

China Baowu Steel Group Corporation (Baowu Group) was established through the consolidation and restructuring of former Baosteel Group Corporation and Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Corporation. The company secured second position on the list with 67.43 MnT in CY18, up 3.12% y-o-y as compared to 65.39 MnT in the preceding year.

3. Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation

This Japan-based steel-making company is standing in third spot on the list and its production, at 49.22 MnT in CY18, is up by 3.93% y-o-y against 47.36 MnT in the previous year.

4. HBIS Group

This China-based steel-making company recorded a tonnage of 46.80 MnT in CY18 over 45.56 MnT in the previous calendar. The company’s production increased by 2.72% on a y-o-y basis.

5. POSCO

South Korean steel-making company POSCO achieved tonnage of 42.86 MnT in CY18, up by 1.59% y-o-y against 42.19 MnT in the previous year.

6. Shagang Group

China’s Shagang Group recorded a tonnage of 40.66 MnT in CY18 which increased by 6.02% on a y-o-y basis compared to 38.35 MnT in the previous calendar.

7. Ansteel Group

China’s Ansteel Group secured the seventh position on the list by achieving 37.36 MnT of steel production in CY18, up by 4.47% on a y-o-y basis compared to 35.76 MnT in the previous year. The company was formed from the merger of Anshan Iron & Steel Group Corporation and Pangang Group Co.

8. JFE Steel Corporation

Japanese steel-making company JFE Steel reported a tonnage of 29.15 MnT in CY18, which fell by 3% y-o-y compared to 30.15 MnT in CY17.

9. Jianlong Group

The largest private-owned enterprise in Tangshan, Hebei province in China, the Jianlong Group produced 27.88 MnT of steel in CY18 against 20.26 MnT in the preceding year. In CY18, the company’s production grew by a whopping 37.61%.

10. Shougang Group

China’s state-owned company, the Shougang Group, secured 10th position on the list by producing 27.34 MnT of steel in CY18, down 1.05% y-o-y against 27.63 MnT in the previous year.

Position of Indian Steel Makers In List Of World’s Top 100 Players

Rank 11
Indian multinational steel maker, the Tata Steel Group, is in 11th rank on the list of the world’s top 100 steel makers in CY18. Last year, the company managed to secure 10th sport on the list by producing 25.11 MnT of steel after acquiring Bhushan Steel with a capacity of around 5.5 MnT. In CY18, the company’s production increased by 8.6% to 27.27 MnT but still it couldn’t make it to the list of the world’s top 10 producers of steel.\

Rank 18
JSW Steel Limited secured 18th position on the list of the top 100 producers by making 16.83 MnT of steel in CY18. The company’s production increased by 4.79% compared to 16.06 MnT in CY17. JSW Steel was in 19th position in last year’s list. JSW Steel is one of India’s leading integrated steel manufacturers with a capacity of 18 MnT per annum. The company is also amongst India’s fastest growing conglomerates.

Rank 20
Indian government-owned steel-making company Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is standing tall in 20th rank this year. After completion of its INR 72,000-crore modernisation and expansion programme, India’s largest state-run steel company grew significantly. The company’s steel production increased 7.64% in CY18. It produced 15.93 MnT of steel in CY18 against 14.80 MnT last year. This improved performance pushed the company’s rank upwards on the list of the world’s top 100 steel producers. In CY17, SAIL was ranked 25th.

Rank 58
Debt-laden Essar Steel India Limited, which is passing through a corporate insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), produced 6.73 MnT of steel in CY18, which is up by 11.61% against 6.03 MnT recorded in CY17. In the list of the world’s top producers of steel, Essar Steel was ranked in 58th spot in CY18 while in CY17 the company was ranked at 56th. Essar Steel is an integrated steel producer with an annual capacity of 10 MnT per annum.

Rank 70
Visakhapatnam, India-based public steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL), also known as Vizag Steel, showed significant improvement in its performance in CY18 against the last two calendars. The company’s steel production grew by 19.27% to 5.26 MnT in CY18 from 4.41 MnT in CY17. It is worth noting that along with the company’s performance, its ranking in the list of WSA is also improving. In CY16, RINL was in 80th position, next year in CY17, it managed to improve its rank and secured the 75th spot. Furthermore, in CY18, RINL successfully secured 70th rank in the list of the world’s top producers of steel.

Rank 87
Chhattisgarh-based Jindal Steel & Power Ltd’s (JSPL’s) ranking in the list of the world’s top steel producers is constantly improving. In CY16, JSPL was ranked 89th. Next year, in CY17, the company’s rank improved to 86th. This year, the company has successfully secured 87th rank in the list of the top steel makers in 2018. In CY18, JSPL increased its tonnage by 15.52% to 4.02 MnT from 3.48 MnT in CY17. Edwin Basson, Director General of worldsteel, said, “The steel industry remains at the heart of global development. In our April Short Range Outlook, we forecast that in 2019 and 2020 global steel demand was expected to continue to grow, but growth rates would moderate in tandem with a slowing global economy. However, uncertainty over the trade environment and volatility in the financial markets continue and could pose downside risks to this forecast. At the time of writing this, nothing has changed.”

Indian steel makers’ CY18 production up 11.23%

It is to be noted that production of all Indian steel makers improved significantly in CY18. Taking an average of all Indian companies’ production growth, it can be said that Indian steel makers’ production grew by 11.23% on an average.
Also, it can be clearly observed that, except Tata Steel and Essar Steel, ranking of all other steel makers has been moving upwards in the list of WSA’s top steel makers in 2018 which is really impressive.
China’s Jianlong Group was in 14th rank last year (CY17) but after a massive production increase of 37.61% to 27.88 MnT from 20.26 MnT in CY18, it got pushed to 9th rank in the list. This is the reason why Tata Steel’s rank was pushed down to 11th despite increased production.

One aspect which is marginally disappointing is that, in spite of India being the second-largest steel producer in the world, no Indian steel maker could make it to the top 10 list. The Tata Steel Group, which was holding 10th rank in CY16 and CY17, has been pushed to 11th rank.