The World Steel Association has published the 2021 edition of World Steel in Figures. The publication provides a comprehensive overview of steel industry activities, stretching from crude steel production to apparent steel use, from indications of global steel trade flows to iron ore production and trade.

Edwin Basson, Director General, worldsteel, said, ‘We have said many times that the steel industry is at the heart of the global economy and equally so at the core of our sustainable modern society. Despite the influence of the pandemic, through its different regional impacts, the global steel industry was fortunate to end 2020 with only a minor contraction in steel demand. Steel use in China expanded while it contracted in the rest of the world. We look forward to normalisation in demand during 2021, owing to steady progress on vaccines and changed behaviour in the global society.

We believe that the pandemic has accelerated some key trends, which will bring about shifts in steel demand. The steel industry will see exciting opportunities from rapid developments through digitisation and automation, infrastructure initiatives, reorganisation of urban centres and energy transformation.’