This year, steel mills around the world have a production capacity of 1.8 billion tons but will take orders for only 1.5 billion tons. And instead of consolidating and becoming more efficient, the industry is building still more capacity.

By 2016, an estimated 100 new mills, with total estimated supply capacity of 350 million tons, are expected to come on stream, according to industry executives and consultants. 

The trillion-dollar-a-year global steel industry is expected to remain, for the foreseeable future, the most fractured of major industries. The world’s top five steel companies control only 18.2% of global steel supply. By contrast, the world’s top five car companies control 50.6% of the global market.

The volume of Chinese steel mill exports has increased 14.5% from year-to-date 2012 to 2013 (January through October).

“Following a 2.9% increase in 2012, apparent steel use in China is expected to grow by 6.0% in 2013 to 699.7 Mt reflecting the impact of the government’s stimulus measures focused on infrastructure. However, steel demand in 2014 is expected to slow to 3.0% growth as the Chinese government’s efforts to rebalance the economy continues to restrain investment activities.

Steel consumption is expected to grow at an average rate of 6.8 per cent to reach 104 MT by 2017 driven by rising infrastructure development and growing demand for automotives. The infrastructure sector is India’s largest steel consumer, accounting for 63 per cent of total consumption in FY11. Attracted by the growth potential of the Indian steel industry, several global steel players have been planning to enter the market. The Government of India (GOI) has allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector through automatic route in order to attract foreign investments.

Latest figures by World Steel Association (WSA) has revealed that India’s steel production increased by 3 per cent to 59.62 million tonne (MT) in the first nine months of 2013, as against 57.90 MT in the corresponding period last year. Moreover, the data showed that India’s rate of production growth was the second-best following China among the major global producers.

The country’s steel output grew to 6.54 MT in September 2013 from 6.24 MT during the same month in 2012.