Chinese M&A leapfrogs Posco in crude steel ranking

Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker, was pushed down in the rank of crude steel production to No. 5 worldwide in 2016, largely due to a merger of China’s steel producers, the industry data showed.

Posco produced 41.5 million tons of crude steel and was listed as the world’s fifth largest crude steel producer among 50 companies surveyed, according to data compiled by the World Steel Association.

In 2015, the local steelmaker came in at No. 4 with 41.9 million tons.

Hyundai Steel, South Korea’s second largest steelmaker, ranked No. 13 with an output of 20 million tons last year, the WSA data showed.

“Most leading steel producers saw their rankings slide, due to the merger of China‘s Wuhan Group and Baosteel Group. The Chinese government is expected to carry out more mergers of steelmakers. So the latest trend of Chinese steel companies taking the top spot will continue,” said analyst Kwon Soon-woo of SK Securities.

Production levels of crude steel is an essential factor when measuring and comparing the size of steelmakers, as it shows the amount of steel products each company makes.

Crude steel refers to unrefined steel produced in furnaces.

Arcelor Mittal, a Luxembourg-based steel producer, retained No.1 spot with an output totaling 95.4 million tons last year, data showed.

China’s state-run China Baowu Steel Group, a new company formed from the merger of Baosteel Group and Wuhan Group in December 2016, produced 63.8 million tons and came in at second place.

China-based Hebei Iron & Steel Group that scored No. 2 in 2015, slid to third place with an output of 46.1 million tons, according to WSA data.

The total amount of crude steel produced worldwide last year totaled 1.63 billion tons, a slight increase from the 1.62 billion tons produced in the previous year, data showed. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)