At the World Steel Association (worldsteel) annual conference in Tokyo on October 4, Zhang Xiaogang, the general manager of Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation (Ansteel), was named as vice president of worldsteel, effective as of October 5. It has also been reported that Mr. Zhang may be designated as the president of the association next year; in this event, he would be the association's first Chinese president.
Mr. Zhang's appointment reflects the growing importance of China in the global steel industry. Overall Chinese crude steel amounted to 0.5678 billion mt in 2009, accounting for almost half of the global production of 1.2237 billion mt during the year in question.
In terms of crude steel production per company, Luxembourg-based Arcelor Mittal ranks first, while five Chinese companies appear in the top 10. Ansteel ranks 11th. The rankings are based on 2009 output levels.