Q1. What was global crude steel production in 2023 ?
Q2. What was global crude steel production in 1950 and in 2000 ?
Q3. Measure the change in global steel production using growth rates and multiplication factors between 1950 and 2000, then between 2000 and 2023.
Q4. What comment can be made about the evolution of global steel production since 1950 ?
How can this trend impact economic growth and the environment ?
Voir la correction
Q1. What was global crude steel production in 2023 ?
Global crude steel production reached 1,892 million tonnes in 2023.
Q2. What was global crude steel production in 1950 and in 2000 ?
Global crude steel productionwas189 million tonnes in1950and 800 million tonnesin2000
Q3. Measure the change in global steel production using growth rates and multiplication factors between 1950 and 2000, then between 2000 and 2023.
1950/2000
Growth rate: 323 %. Calculation : (1892 - 189) × 100 / 189 = 323%. Steel production increased by 323 % over 50 years.
Multiplication factor :4.23. Calculation: 1892 / 189 = 4.23.Steel production was multi-
plied by 4.23 over 50 years.
2000/2023
Growth rate: 136 %. Calculation: (1892 - 800) × 100 / 800 = 136%. Steel production increased by 136 % over 23 years.
Multiplication factor:2.36. Calculation: 1892 / 800 = 2.36. Steel production was multi-
plied by 2.36 over 23 years.
Q4. What comment can be made about the evolution of global steel production since 1950 ?
How can this trend impact economic growth and the environment ?
Global steel production has increased significantly since 1950, especially since the 2000s, with a strong acceleration due to the emergence of the Chinese market and rapid urbanization (cf. constructing buildings and volumes of steel therefore) in China.
The increase in global steel production has had positive effects on economic growth, such as job creation, infrastructure investments, and substantial increases in income and GDP. However, this form of growth now faces ecological limits, especially in sectors that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as steel production. Steel is an essential material in many sectors (construction, automotive, infrastructure), and its production reflects econo-mic dynamism. Nevertheless, it generates negative externalities—harmful effects of economic activitie son third parties, not accounted for by the market. Specifically, steel plants emit large quantities of GHGs such as carbon dioxide (CO ), contributing to global warming. This pheno- menon threatens ecosystems, human health, and living conditions on Earth in general.
Furthermore, thesteel industry depends onthe extraction of iron ore andcoal—non-renewable resources whose intensive exploitation leads to their gradual depletion. This scarcity increases production costs and makes long-term growth harder to sustain.
Thus, even though steel supports economic activity, its current production model conflicts with sustainability goals. This highlights the tension between economic growth and environmental protection and underscores the need for a profound transformation of production methods—such as the development of low-carbon steel—to reconcile development with sustainability.