At the 83rd Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Steel Committee meeting held in Paris on September 28-29, the Steel Committee stated that trade tensions continue in the global steel market, amidst persistent excess capacity, unfair trade practices and trade friction. World steel trade contracted for the first time since 2009 in 2016. After growing at an average annual rate of 6.3 percent between 2009 and 2015, world steel exports contracted by 1.1 percent from 317 million mt in 2015 to 313 million mt in 2016. Data for the first quarter of 2017 show that steel exports continue to decline. However, in certain major markets such as North America, Japan and the EU, steel imports increased significantly in the first half of 2017.
The Committee discussed the market distortions stemming from state ownership in the steel sector. State enterprises may benefit from different forms of preferential treatment that result in market distortions. In 2016, state enterprises accounted for at least 32 percent of global crude steel production. Firm-level data suggest that state enterprises in the steel sector are associated with poorer economic performances and higher levels of indebtedness compared to private enterprises. State enterprises, which are overwhelmingly present in emerging economies, have also contributed significantly to the increase in global steelmaking capacity, while achieving lower financial results than their comparable private counterparts.