Economic security

ITA Trade Administration : Global Excess Steel Capacity Factsheet

Although the U.S. and global economies have rebounded from the 2009 recession, the steel sector continues to experience significant challenges as a result of global excess capacity.

• Capacity: According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Steel Committee, global crude steelmaking capacity more than doubled from 2000 to 2014, with global capacity growth led by an unprecedented expansion in capacity by China. Global steelmaking capacity is projected by the OECD to grow even further in the 2015 to 2017 period, to 2,361 million metric tons (MMT), approximately 700 MMT in excess of global steel demand in 2015.

• Demand: At the same time, global demand for steel is weakening. In October 2015, the World Steel Association lowered its forecasts for world steel demand, estimating that demand decreased by 1.7 percent in 2015. Global production also decreased by 2.9 percent in 2015 over 2014 levels.
  
  
• Global Exports: Despite significant production and demand decreases, world steel exports have increased by more than 4 percent between January-July 2015 relative to the same period in 2014, according to the OECD....