Global Steel Industry Update June 2026: Steady Growth Amid Green Transition and Geoeconomic Shifts
The global steel industry entered the second quarter of 2026 with mixed signals of steady demand expansion and accelerating structural transformation, as major players across regions continue to adjust capacity and push forward low-carbon transition, while trade policies and raw material supply chains bring new uncertainties to the market.
According to the latest industry data, global crude steel production maintained a mild growth trend in the first five months of 2026. China, the world’s largest steel producer, still accounts for more than 52% of global total output, with production remaining stable as the country pushes forward differentiated capacity regulation to support high-quality development. India, the second largest producer, continues to see rapid capacity expansion: JSW Steel recently awarded a 1.2-1.8 billion super contract to India’s L&T Construction for key process facilities in its capacity expansion projects in Karnataka and Odisha. The company plans to boost its total crude steel capacity from 35 million tons to 56 million tons by 2031, with a total investment exceeding 24 billion. Meanwhile, Tata Steel has signed a final agreement with SMS Group to transform the No. E blast furnace at its Jamshedpur plant into the world’s first industrial-scale electric-assisted syngas smelting furnace (EASyMelt). This project replaces coke with plasma-heated superheated syngas, aiming to cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 50%, providing a critical decarbonization blueprint for existing “brownfield” blast furnace assets worldwide.
In North America, the $5.8 billion integrated steel mill project jointly invested by Hyundai Steel and POSCO in Louisiana continues to make progress. The project recently selected Italian equipment manufacturer Danieli as its technical partner, which will provide core equipment including an annual 2.5 million-ton ENERGIRON direct reduction iron plant that supports hydrogen production and carbon capture technology, and two electric arc furnaces with a total capacity of 2.88 million tons. The plant is expected to be put into operation in 2029, mainly producing low-carbon high-value-added steel for the North American automotive market. Entergy Louisiana has also signed a long-term power supply agreement with the joint venture, marking a key milestone in the project implementation. In addition, U.S. Steel announced plans to build a new direct reduced iron (DRI) production facility at its Big River Steel plant in Arkansas, adopting advanced low-carbon technology to provide high-quality iron raw materials for the plant’s electric arc furnace, further enhancing the company’s competitiveness in the North American market.
The European steel market is facing combined pressures from logistics bottlenecks and decarbonization costs. ArcelorMittal’s Kryvyi Rih plant in Ukraine announced a temporary suspension of steel and rolled steel production for at least four days starting May 5 this year, after railway infrastructure connecting the plant to the Black Sea port was severely damaged. The logistics disruption has paralyzed the export of iron ore concentrate and finished steel, forcing the company to shut down its No. 6 blast furnace. The plant originally planned to produce 5.3 million tons of iron ore concentrate and 3.8 million tons of crude steel in 2026, and this production outage is expected to exacerbate tight supply of long steel products in the European and North African markets. Meanwhile, data from Germany’s bvse shows that scrap consumption in the German foundry industry has dropped to the lowest level since statistics began in 1980. In 2025, German steel mills’ scrap purchases decreased by about 670,000 tons year-on-year to 12 million tons, a drop of 5%, while foundry purchases fell by 12% to 2.1 million tons. At the same time, Germany’s scrap imports fell 9% year-on-year to 4 million tons, while exports increased 5% to 7.7 million tons, forming a net export surplus of about 3.7 million tons, reflecting the continued contraction of domestic steel production demand in Germany.
On the price side, China’s domestic steel market showed a trend of price increase supported by cost in late May 2026. As of May 29, the price of 20mm HRB400 rebar in Shanghai reached 3,290 yuan per ton, up 20 yuan from the previous week; the price of 8.0mm high-speed wire was 3,440 yuan per ton, up 40 yuan week-on-week; and 3.0mm hot-rolled coil was 3,460 yuan per ton, also up 40 yuan from the previous week. The main support for prices comes from the tightening coking coal supply: production capacity of about 122 million tons has been suspended in Shanxi Province, China’s main coking coal producing area, and only 25 million tons has resumed production so far. The resulting supply reduction has brought strong cost support to the steel market. In terms of production and inventory, the output of China’s five major steel varieties rose to 8.64 million tons, up 15,200 tons week-on-week, while total mill inventory decreased by 134,100 tons to 4.1632 million tons, showing that overall supply and demand remain in a relatively balanced state.
Looking forward to the second half of 2026, industry insiders point out that the global steel industry will continue to be driven by two core trends: green transformation and regional capacity restructuring. The demand for low-carbon green steel is gradually rising in downstream industries such as automobiles, energy and construction, and it is expected that the proportion of green steel in total板材 demand will increase from less than 3% in 2024 to 28% by 2040. At the same time, emerging regions represented by India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East will become the main engine of global steel demand growth, while the pace of capacity adjustment in developed economies will continue to accelerate. For steel enterprises, grasping the rhythm of green transformation, ensuring the safety of key raw material supply chains, and carrying out reasonable global layout will be the key to maintaining competitive advantage in the new industry landscape.
Post time: Jun-02-2026
