India is second largest steel producer now

India has replaced Japan as the world’s second-largest steel producer. The country’s crude steel output rose 4.9 per cent to 106.5 million tonnes in 2018, while Japan’s production fell 0.3 per cent to 104.3 million tonnes, according to data from the World Steel Association (WSA). The development will boost the steel ministry’s initiative to achieve 300 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030. The government is also making efforts to increase India’s per capita steel consumption through various policy initiatives and stepping up spending on housing and infrastructure.

WSA, based in Brussels, compiles data for 64 steel producing countries and said global crude steel production reached 1,808.6 million tonnes in 2018, up 4.6 per cent from 2017. Production increased in all regions, except in the European Union.


China remained the top producer, with output climbing 6.6 per cent to touch 928.3 million tonnes last year. In the process, China’s share of global crude steel production increased to 51.3 per cent from 50.3 per cent in 2017. Asia’s steel production rose 5.6 per cent to 1,271.1 million tonnes. South Korea’s output was up 2 per cent to 72.5 million tonnes, the WSA said.