2021 Taiwan Industrial Outlook-Metal Material

In 2020, the crude steel production in Taiwan was 20.75 million metric tons, which makes it the 12th biggest steel producing country in the world, accounting for 1.11% of the global production and a self-sufficiency rate of 86.1%. 61.2% of the production comes from blast furnaces, while 38.8% comes from electric furnaces. Out of the total crude steel production in 2020, 21.984 million metric tons was carbon crude steel, accounting for 95.5% of all steel types produced, while stainless and alloy steel only accounted for 4.5%. In terms of the global market, according to statistics from the World Steel Association, the apparent global steel consumption in 2020 was 1.7718 billion metric tons, a decline of 0.2% from 2019. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union and North America both experienced double-digit declines. It is estimated that it will rebound by 5.8% in 2021 to 1.874 billion metric tons. According to the outlook for the future, global steel demand is still facing some uncertainties, such as: Virus variants, vaccination progress, when fiscal and monetary policy stimulus programs will be withdrawn, geopolitical and trade tensions, etc. These factors may all affect the outlook for steel demand. In the post-Covid-19 era, the demand for digitization and automation, infrastructure investment, urban transformation, and energy transformation will drive the development of related steel industries. It is estimated that future global structural changes may change the distribution of steel demand. This will bring exciting opportunities for the steel industry. In addition, driven by trend of global carbon neutrality, the steel industry must actively respond to society's expectations for low carbon emission steel.