CSC world's no.19 steel producer

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on April 7, 2006. It reports that Taiwan's China Steel Corp. recently saw its world ranking slip to 19th in 2005, from 16th in 2004.

The China Steel Corp. attributed its ranking slump to its repair and maintenance on the No.2 blast furnace in 2005, which led to a reduction in overall output. In 2005, the company also saw its annual output drop to 11.65 million metric tons, from 12.17 million metric tons in 2004. However, the company is optimistic that it will be able to clime one spot to stand at the No.18 position in 2006.

According to the U.K.-based Metal Bulletin Plc., which compiles statistics on steel producers whose annual outputs of rough steel reach two million metric tons, the world's largest steel conglomerate in 2005 was India-based Mittal Steel. It was followed by the Arcelor Group in Europe, Nippon Steel in Japan, POSCO in South Korea, and the JFE Corp in Japan.

China's BaoSteel was the world's sixth-largest steel producer. According to the Metal Bulletin Plc., the number of China's steel producers that have squeezed into the list of the world's top producers has climbed to 47 in 2005, from 43 in 2004.