Steel industry in the global market since 1950

The iron and steel sector, one of the most important sectors for Turkey and the world, has been growing rapidly since 1950. The importance of recycling has been emphasized more frequently as the areas of utilization of steel, which has played an important role in the development of various industries and the development of societies since time immemorial, have expanded in the growing economy. Zero carbon and green steel has become one of the most important items in the sector. So what figures did the steel industry reach this year?

While only 189 m/t of steel was produced worldwide in the 1950s, this figure reached 1,885 m/t according to the data announced for 2022.

In Turkey, steel production started for the first time in 1928 in Kırıkkale to meet the steel needs of the Turkish defense industry.

Karabük Iron and Steel Factories (KARDEMİR), Turkey's first integrated iron and steel plant, was launched in 1939.

Later, in order to meet Turkey's demand for flat steel products, the second integrated plant, Ereğli Iron and Steel Factories (ERDEMİR), started production in 1965. Today, Erdemir ranks 48th among the world's top steel producing companies.

In 1977, Turkey's third integrated plant, İskenderun Iron and Steel Mills (İSDEMİR), was opened to meet the demand for long steel products and semi-products.

Today, due to the presence of a number of strong factories, crude steel production in 2022 amounted to 35.1 million tons. Crude steel production in Turkey fell by 12.9% in 2022 due to rising inflation and falling steel demand. In 2022, Turkey was recorded as the second largest producer in Europe and the 8th largest in the world.

According to data published by the World Steel Association, China ranks first in steel production from 1967 to 2021, followed by India in 2nd place and Japan in 3rd place. Producing only 14 m/t of steel in 1967, China doubled its production every year until 2000 and produced 128.5 m/t of steel in 2000.Today, it maintains its leadership by continuing to produce more than 1 billion tons of steel.

According to the 2023 edition of World Steel in Figures by the World Steel Association (worldsteel), the world produced a total of 1,885 m/t of steel in 2022.