The European Union remained in 2019 as the leader among the largest exporters of steel (also includes iron) in the world, with 151,000 million dollars.

Behind this bloc were, in descending order: China ($ 55 billion), Japan ($ 28 billion), South Korea ($ 26 billion) and Russia ($ 19 billion).

Other major steel exporters were: the United States ($ 13 billion), India ($ 12 billion), Brazil ($ 12 billion), Turkey ($ 11 billion) and Taiwan ($ 10 billion), according to data from the World Organization of Commerce (WTO).

Thus, the value of the European Union’s exports was almost three times higher than the second largest exporter of steel and iron, China.

Steel exporters

The top 10 exporters experienced a decline in exports in 2019, with Russia suffering the most (-21%), followed by Taiwan (-16%), the United States (-14%) and Turkey (-14%).

The ranking of the top 10 steel exporters was largely unchanged. However, India climbed from ninth to seventh in 2019, while Turkey took the opposite direction.

Top 10 exporters of iron and Steel, 2019. (Billion dollars and percentage)

Global iron and steel exports increased an average of 6% annually between 2000 and 2019. The largest increase (48%) was recorded in 2004 during the commodity boom of the 2000s, while the steepest decline was recorded in 2009 as a result of the financial crisis (-45 percent).

Likewise, the 12% drop in iron and steel exports in 2019 was the third steepest drop since 2000.

India’s iron and steel exports declined the least among the top 10 exporters, dropping just 1% in 2019.

India experienced a significant decline in exports to some of its main destinations, such as Nepal (-21%), the United States (-10%) and the European Union (-9%), but exports increased significantly for other partners, such as Vietnam (240%), China (+ 84%), Canada (22%) and the United Arab Emirates (17 por ciento).