Europe’s ArcelorMittal is no. 1 and China’s Baowu Iron and Steel Group is no. 2, according to the 2019 Crude steel output ranking released by the World Iron and Steel Association. Although the ranking remains unchanged, the gap between the two companies has narrowed to about 1.8 million tons.This has also attracted wide attention in the industry.
According to an article published by Nikkei Chinese website on August 17, due to the impact of coVID-19, the “China no.1” pattern in the steel industry is becoming increasingly obvious, and China Baowu Iron and Steel Group is expected to become the no.1 producer of crude steel by 2020.
From a global perspective, the impact of the current epidemic, as a major consumer of the manufacturing industry, steel demand has plummeted.However, The epidemic in China is the first to subside, production activities have become increasingly active, and steel demand is at a high level.Under the circumstances, the dominance of Chinese companies has become all the more apparent.
According to the world Steel Association’s steel demand forecast released in early June, world steel demand in 2020 is expected to fall 6.4 percent from 2019 to 1.654 billion tons.China’s steel demand will rise 1.0 per cent from a year ago to 917m tonnes, but other major countries will see double-digit declines, the association estimated.
“China’s steel demand is fully met domestically, and Japanese companies cannot share in China’s voracious demand,” said Eiji Hashimoto, chairman of The Japan Iron and Steel Federation and head of Japan’s iron and Steel agency.China’s big companies will capture domestic demand.Japanese and American firms, which are winning in regions where demand is plunging, will continue to be relatively unfavourable.
“The size of China is clearly expanding compared to the past,” said Atsushi Yamaguchi, a senior analyst at SMBC Nikko Securities, according to the Nikkei Chinese newspaper.China’s Baowu Iron & Steel Group Co. stepped up its offensive in June with a plan to invest about 20 billion yuan in Hubei.The chances of a formal change of ownership of the world’s top steel producer by 2020 are rising.
