Architecture
Global Energy Monitor’s Global Iron and Steel Tracker uses a two-level system for organizing information, consisting of both a database and wiki pages with further information. The database tracks individual iron and steel plants and units and includes information such as plant owner and parent company, plant status, iron and steel production method, unit and plant capacity, annual production, location, and furnace details (capacity, age, model, etc.). The dataset consists of three documents: a plant-level file, steel units file, and iron units file. Data on individual electric arc furnaces, basic oxygen furnaces, and open hearth furnaces can be found in the steel units file, and data on blast furnaces, blast furnace relinings, and direct reduced iron furnaces can be found in the iron units file. A wiki page for each plant is created within GEM.wiki, and contains more detailed, footnoted information such as plant history, labor/social issues, and environmental records. The database and wiki pages are updated annually.
Research Process
A preliminary list of iron and steel plants in each country/area was gathered from public and private data sources including Steel On The Net, OECD Steel Committee, SteelOrbis, SteelGuru, South East Asian Iron and Steel Institute (SEAISI), Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST), Fastmarkets News, and USGS Mineral Yearbooks, as well as various company and government sources. Data for proposed iron and steel plants was gathered from company announcements, press releases, government permits, and the OECD papers on steelmaking capacity developments, and includes global coverage of iron and steel plants proposed as of February 15, 2025. The data was then vetted against additional sources of information, listed below.
Iron and steel plant data is updated and maintained through six main sources:
- Corporate reports and data sources from iron and steel plant owner and parent companies
- Government data on individual iron and steel plants
- Reports by national and regional iron and steel industry groups
- News and media reports
- Reports from iron and steel technology manufacturers
- On the ground contacts who can provide first-hand information about a project or plant
Where possible, iron and steel plant data is circulated for review to researchers familiar with local conditions and languages. Reviewers and collaborators include Global Efficiency Intelligence, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, Spatial Finance Initiative, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Ember Climate, Raven Ridge Resources, and many other individual contributors.
Wiki Pages
For each iron and steel plant, a wiki page is created on Global Energy Monitor’s GEM.wiki. Wiki pages provide a repository for plant details including plant owner, parent company, plant status, iron and steel production method, plant capacity and actual production, location (coordinates and map), and furnace details, as well as additional in-depth information that may include plant background, financing, environmental impacts, raw material sourcing, finished product uses, public opposition, aerial photographs, videos, and links to plant environmental permits. Under standard wiki convention, all information is linked to a published reference, such as a news article, company or government report, or a regulatory permit. In order to ensure data integrity in the open-access wiki environment, Global Energy Monitor researchers review all edits of project wiki pages.
Capacity and Actual Production
Capacity is defined as the tonnes of crude iron or steel per annum that a plant/unit is capable of producing. Production is actual tonnes of crude iron or steel per annum produced at a plant in a given year. Capacity for each plant is researched on the unit-level and aggregated by operating status and unit type to provide plant-level figures. Production data is only researched at the plant-level.
The Global Iron and Steel Tracker provides a sum total crude steelmaking capacity and ironmaking capacity (across all production methods) for each plant. Steelmaking is a process that uses a furnace to produce crude steel from pig iron/hot metal, direct reduced iron/sponge iron, and/or scrap steel. Thus, steelmaking capacity and actual production refers to the output of steelmaking furnaces. Ironmaking is the process of producing liquid iron by reducing iron ore with either metallurgical coal (to produce pig iron/hot metal) or a reducing gas or elemental carbon produced from natural gas or coal (to produce direct reduced iron/sponge iron). Thus, ironmaking capacity refers to the output of ironmaking furnaces/units.
Raw material preparation for iron and steelmaking requires other units that also have individual capacity and production levels. Preparation of iron ore for the iron and steelmaking process often involves pelletization or sintering to create uniform-sized iron ore pieces. In coal-based iron and steelmaking, metallurgical coal is transformed to “coke” through a baking process in coke ovens.
Capacities for crude steel, iron, ferronickel, coke, iron pellets, and sinter are researched and recorded. When available, actual production of crude iron and steel is provided, beginning with the year 2019. When possible, plant steelmaking capacity and production was distinguished by the production process used (i.e. electric arc furnace, basic oxygen furnace, or open hearth furnace). Ironmaking capacity and production is also distinguished by production process and product (i.e. blast furnace (hot metal/pig iron), direct reduced iron plant (DRI/sponge iron)). When the process for iron or steelmaking is unknown, it appears in the “Other/unspecified capacity” column.
If plant capacity for a given product was known to be greater than zero, but the exact value could not be found or estimated with confidence, capacity was listed as “>0” and production was listed as “unknown”. If plant capacity or production for a given product was known to be zero, capacity and production were each listed as “N/A” (not applicable).
Global Energy Monitor’s wiki pages provide detailed capacity and production information by steel and ironmaking process, as well as capacities for ferronickel, coke, iron pellets, and sinter when available.
Capacity Status Categories
Announced: Capacity that has been announced in corporate or governmental planning documents, but has not begun construction.
Construction: Physical furnace structure building has begun.
Operating: Furnace(s) are currently operating and producing iron or steel.
Operating pre-retirement: Company has announced plans to retire this iron or steelmaking capacity but it has not yet ceased operations.
Mothballed: Iron or steelmaking has been idled such that it cannot be brought into operation immediately, but is not retired.
Mothballed pre-retirement: Iron or steelmaking has been idled such that it cannot be brought into operation immediately. It has not yet been permanently retired/decommissioned, but the plant has announced plans to do so in the future.
Retired: Furnace(s) have ceased operations and no longer has ability to produce iron or steel. If the capacity has been mothballed for over 5 years it is considered retired.
Cancelled: Capacity previously planned or under development that has been cancelled. If no progress or announcements for announced capacity are made after 5 years it is considered to be cancelled.
Workforce Size
Workforce size for each individual iron and steel plant was researched and recorded if available. Workforce size aims to capture the number of full-time employees working at a given iron and steel plant. In some cases when workforce size could not be found for a specific plant, it was estimated from company-wide workforce data. As the first known attempt to capture the iron and steel industry’s workforce size at the plant-level, GEM presents this data with the caveat that for many plants workforce size remains unknown and/or reported with a lack of transparency for exactly who is included in that workforce size (i.e. full-time vs part-time workers, temporary/contract workers, administrative personnel, etc.). Our aim in providing this data is to create a starting point from which workforce size data can be improved.
Mapping
To allow easy public access to the results, Global Energy Monitor worked with Earth Genome to develop a map-based and table-based interface. In the case of exact coordinates, locations have been visually determined using Google Maps, Google Earth, Planet Labs, or Wikimapia. For announced projects, exact locations, if available, are from permit applications or other company documentation. If the location of a plant or announcement is not known, GEM identifies the most approximate location.