2023 Global Steel Hot Spots

1.?Nippon Steel announced its acquisition of U.S. Steel

December 18, Japan steel announced plans to cash acquisition of the United States Steel company, turning it into a wholly-owned subsidiary, as the world's fourth largest steel manufacturer, Japan Steel after the acquisition of the United States steel company crude steel production capacity will be greatly improved, while significantly increasing capacity in the United States.

2.?Global research and development of advanced steel products and production technologies accelerated

In early January, the German subsidiary of the Swiss Steel Group announced the development of the XTP? process for the production of ultra-fine-grained, ultra-high-strength steel without the need to add alloys or undergo special heat treatment. The process can produce extremely fine-grained steel with a grain size of less than 5 microns, which can increase the tensile strength of the steel to 2,050 mpa.

In June, PoSCO Group launched its first carbon emission reduction brand product "Greenate Certified steel" in South Korea, achieving carbon emission reduction through the introduction of low-carbon production processes and the use of low-carbon iron source materials. In late November, it successfully developed a stainless steel lining technology using duplex steel with excellent corrosion resistance and erosion resistance, and used duplex stainless steel as the lining material of the water tank, improving environmental protection.

On October 31, Kobe Steel commercialized the "EX-Facter" steel plate, a fatigue resistant steel plate that inhibits cracking, for the first time in the industry, using optimal composition design and TMCP technology.

At the end of November, Dongguk Coated Metal Company, a subsidiary of Dongguk Steel's cold rolling business, successfully developed the world's first technology to produce color steel plates using recycled waste plastics - Reborn Green PCM color steel plates (Reborn Green PCM).

In addition, in 2023, Chinese enterprises also achieved a number of advanced steel products global debut. For example, Baosteel only in the first half of this year to achieve 1500 mpa DP ultra-high strength automotive plate and other seven products global debut.

3.?Ukraine resumes some steel production

In 2023, Ukraine resumed some steel production and redirected trade flows to the European market. Despite the ongoing threat of geopolitical conflict, steel production in Ukraine has started to pick up this year. The latest data from the Ukrainian Steel Trade Association show that in the first 10 months of 2023, Ukraine's crude steel production was 5.16 million tons, pig iron production was 4.91 million tons, and steel production was 4.37 million tons.

4.?The EU extended the suspension of retaliatory tariffs on US products

On Dec. 19, the European Union said it would suspend its dispute with the United States over steel and aluminum tariffs until March 31, 2025. In exchange, the US agreed to provide further tariff exemptions for EU exporters.