Membership benefits

Foreword

The World Steel Association (worldsteel) is an organisation for its members and driven by its members. Our activities are operated through a committee structure, where members can participate and contribute to the outcome of worldsteel activities.

worldsteel is an international industry association with high public visibility. The members of worldsteel represent most of the globe’s international carbon and stainless steel output. It is the policy of worldsteel to govern its activities by the standards of the strictest and most developed antitrust principles.

With the support of members, we continue to turn challenges into opportunities.

This document summarises our products, services, and offerings as we continue to embark on our journey as the forum for the steel industry.

We hope you can join us in our endeavour.

Edwin BASSON
Director General

Our commitment

Improve the image of steel as a product and as an industry

Position steel as an environmentally competitive and sustainable product

Sharpen the focus on long term trends to ensure steel industry sustainability

Enhance membership support in all regions

Steel enables innovation. Steel is creativity, applied. — We are an organisation created for its members and driven by its members

Introduction

worldsteel is one of the largest and most dynamic industry associations in the world, with members in every major steel-producing country in the world. worldsteel is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium and has a representative office in Beijing, China. worldsteel represents steel producers, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes. Members represent around 85% of global steel production.

worldsteel’s mission is to act as the focal point for the steel industry and as such provides global leadership on all major strategic issues affecting the industry, particularly focusing on economic, environmental and social sustainability. worldsteel promotes steel and the steel industry tocustomers, the industry, media and the general public. It assists its members to develop the market for steel, with major projects in the construction and automotive sectors.

We promote market competition that is free of government interventions preventing fair trade. We do not engage in any trade related activities and not party to any commercial undertakings of our members.

In 2017, we marked our 50th year anniversary and received the title “Royal” from the King of the Belgians. The recognition is for our continuous demonstration of good management in pursuance of commendable causes and for operating a non-discriminatory membership policy.

Who can become a member?

There are two categories of worldsteel membership:

Regular members

Regular members consist of companies having actual raw steel production, including steel alloys and stainless steel, and operating as independent commercial enterprises. State-controlled companies must be free to make their own economic and investment decisions and operate in a market based economy.

Affiliated members

Any association or federation of steel producers and any technical society or institute concerned with matters affecting the steel industry.

What your membership means

We promote the steel industry as:

A sustainable industry committed to eco-efficient production and recovery, reuse and recycling of steel
A future-minded industry committed to the reduction of global CO2 emissions through advanced applications, technology transfer and breakthrough technology
A global industry which wants to operate with a level playing field free of market distortions which prevent fair competition
A caring and committed industry which believes that nothing is more important than the safety and health of its people
A cornerstone of the world’s industrial sectors with attractive long term investment and employment opportunities

As a member you will be able to:

Access the worldsteel extranet, a password protected website available exclusively to members that provides details of all our programmes, activities and campaigns
Benefit from worldsteel’s member-only data, reports, publications, case studies and authoritative works on specialist subjects including the latest technical and economic data on industry trends and performance affecting the global steel industry
Become involved at an international level in common market development programmes and initiatives
Network with other steel industry professionals from around the world at meetings, events and conferences organised by worldsteel
Join major industry-wide working parties, expert groups and committees in worldsteel and contribute to special initiatives, including data collection and benchmarking
Send high-potential employees as Fellows to worldsteel to work on specific projects and gain knowledge of the industry at a global level

Governance

Our key focus areas

Our commitees

We have 8 main committees and within each of them are experts and specialised groups supporting specific projects and undertakings.

COMMCO: Communication Committee
Building and promoting image of steel via social media, websites, press and prints Global research, e.g., reputation studies, stakeholder mapping, and development of key messages steelStories: how steel applications touch peoples’ lives and shape today and tomorrow Image Library showcasing members’ cutting-edge production facilities for use by top-tier global press
Contact: comm@worldsteel.org

ECON: Economics Committee
Enhanced access to the bi-annual Short Range Outlook (SRO) on steel demand and related interim reports Medium-term (5-10 years) and long-term demand forecasts as well as strategic and regional studies Exclusive monthly updates on the Chinese steel industry developments, including demand drivers and policy government digest Platform for discussion on best practices in statistical and economic forecasting methodologies
Contact: economics@worldsteel.org

ECO: Environment Committee
A forum to discuss continuing efforts to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint Annual collection and analysis of industry CO2 emissions following the worldsteel CO2 methodology, the basis for the ISO 14404 standard series recognised as a global benchmark for measuring emissions Updates and documentation on environmental policies and regulations identifying areas of common concern for members Workshops and seminars on climate change, water management, co-products, and air quality
Contact: environment@worldsteel.org

ETCO: Education and Training Committee

Sharing best practices and benchmarking information on subjects relating to people recruitment, training, development and maintaining talents in the industry
Input into the initiatives run by steeluniversity including steelChallenge, steelManagement and steelBusiness as well as the range of online courses and simulations run through steeluniversity.org, an online education and training platform
steelTalks, a series of webinars led by industry experts

Contact: info@steeluniversity.org

IPSCO: Industry and Product Sustainability Committee
Dialogue and input with global sustainability, supply chain and/or customer-related initiatives and standards: ISO, SBTi, ResponsibleSteel, etc. Sustainability enhancement programmes: Sustainability Charter, and Champions Recognition, communication of the steel industry’s commitment to and initiatives around sustainability Annual collection of sustainability indicators and Life Cycle Inventory data; benchmarking and communications Workshops and trainings on LCA, LCI data collection, and applications in the marketplace
Contact: sustainability@worldsteel.org

SHCO: Safety and Health Committee
A forum for safety and health professionals committed to creating a safer workplace for the steel industry and its people and recognition of improvements made Participation in task forces to identify key issues and produce guidance notes to improve and manage risks Workshops, courses, and webinars covering critical topics such as process safety, managing risks, and mental health, etc. Safety Stories: an online platform for sharing and learning from experiences of serious incidents and near misses and online forum
Contact: safety@worldsteel.org

RAMCO: Raw Materials Committee
Monitoring of raw materials availability and quality trends; assessment of the impact and opportunities of structural changes in raw materials markets, such as the restructuring of Chinese iron ore and coal mining sectors Impact assessment of expected changes in the operating environment, such as decarbonisation of the steel industry and increasing importance of ESG performance Maintaining a scrap availability model to project global/regional availability up to 2050
Contact: rawmaterials@worldsteel.org

TECO: Technology Committee
Participation in online secured and anonymous industry-wide benchmarking systems for energy efficiency, maintenance and reliability, and process yields, enabling to compare performance against comparable sites or plants, or a representative reference site Workshops and participation in expert groups in the areas of CO2 reporting, Electric Arc Furnace, Energy Use, Global Technology Innovation, Intelligent Manufacturing, Maintenance and Reliability, and Process Yields Wide range of technical publications
Contact: technology@worldsteel.org

Strategic initiatives and development programmes

Megatrends

Coordinated expert evaluation of megatrends which are powerful, sustained forces that can transform the global social and economic landscape in a major way over decades. Urbanisation, technological progress, and climate change are typical examples of megatrends expected to shape the future of the global steel industry.

Contact: strategic@worldsteel.org

China engagement

Our representative office in Beijing was launched in 2006 in acknowledgement of the growing importance of China in the global steel industry. It ensures that members in China are engaged in worldsteel activities, specifically in the areas of technology, environment, sustainability, and market development.

The office also acts as a bridge between the global and the Chinese steel industry, and between the steel industry and the stakeholders, including the downstream sectors and policymakers in China.

Contact: china@worldsteel.org

step up

A multi-step process reviewing raw material use, energy input, yield and maintenance to support improvements in mill operations to efficiency levels commensurate with the industry’s top performers.

This is worldsteel’s pre-emptive action on the road to the arrival of breakthrough technologies. worldsteel believes that short and medium term process efficiency gains will provide important benefits to tackle climate change.

Contact: technology@worldsteel.org

steeluniversity

An online industry university platform aimed to equip today’s workforce with the skills and knowledge needed in competitive global markets and attract, train, and retain the next generation of steelmakers. It provides learning opportunities on how steel is made, how it is used in consumer products and how it impacts our daily lives.

Contact: info@worldsteel.org

Market Development (opt-in programmes)

Our opt-in programmes aim to further the development of steel-using sectors. Currently we offer two programmes for which there is an additional fee to join.

constructsteel is a marketing focused global steel construction opt-in programme whose role is to position and target specific markets and topics requested by members for members, acting as an amplifying global voice.

At the same time, constructsteel has a regional dimension, to assist in transforming global efforts into opportunities at the local level. Its mission is to position the use of steel as a material of choice in a sustainable way by communicating its benefits to construction stakeholders.

Benefits of joining:

Participating members contribute towards current work items and propose new areas for collaboration.
Participating members contribute to discussions and learn from the experiences of other members.
Invite experienced professionals to address topics under collaboration and share what can be done to improve agreed items.
Share, commercialise and promote items.
Help position steel as the material of choice for construction creating demand now and in the future.

Contact: constructsteel@worldsteeel.org

WorldAutoSteel is the opt-in automotive group of worldsteel. WorldAutoSteel’s mission is to advance and communicate steel’s unique ability to meet the automotive industry’s needs in a sustainable and environmentally responsible way.

WorldAutoSteel is committed to a low carbon future, the principles of which are embedded in their continuous research, and ultimately, in the advancement of automotive steel products, for the benefit of society and future generations.

Benefits of joining:

Access to Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) implementation solutions
Life cycle modelling of greenhouse emissions to assess material selection impacts
LCA advocacy options in conjunction with top academia
AHSS vehicle application demonstration for electric, autonomous Mobility as a Service
Future trends and impacts for steel 2030+
Automotive mass benchmarking and solid data analysis
Access to specific studies on battery electric vehicle architectures and other key industry topics
Cooperation with leading universities and government agencies to address environmental

Contact: steel@worldautosteel.org

Within your reach

Steel production, trade and use

Reported monthly, yearly, by country.

Long series available

Contact: sustainability@worldsteel.org

Life cycle inventory data

The most comprehensive and accurate LCI dataset for steel products produced in the world.

17 steel products from hot-rolled coil to plate, rebar, sections and coated steels

Contact: sustainability@worldsteel.org

Benchmarking systems

Online data collection, assessment and benchmarking systems, including:
safety and health, CO2, sustainability, energy efficiency, maintenance and reliability, and process yields.Interactive comparison analysis tools

Contact: benchmarking@worldsteel.org

Indirect trade in steel

Essential facts and statistics about the global trade in steel containing goods and indirect trade of steel. Analysis of global trends.

Flexible reporting

Contact: economics@worldsteel.org

worldsteel extranet

Our membership extranet contains about 30 thousand documents, reports, and studies, guidance notes, position papers as well as benchmarking reports are available to members. Once new updates are available members are notified by email.

Environment policy papers, reports, etc.

Safety and health reports, incidents, stories and learnings

Technical reports

Bi-annual reporting on apparent steel demand

Annual CO₂report

Monthly and annual statistics of crude steel production

Methodologies (steel demand forecasting, Life Cycle Inventory, sustainability reporting)

Monthly review of China steel industry

Please be reminded, however, that worldsteel adheres to strict protocols:

Confidentiality

Data submission by members is for internal worldsteel use only. No details of member company’s information will be revealed to any third party without member’s permission.

Copyright

Our publications are protected by copyright. Distribution to third parties or reproduction in any format is not permitted without written permission from worldsteel.

Privacy policy

We make it a matter of pride to respect the privacy of our members and to treat their personal data in the strictest confidentiality and in accordance with the legislation in force. For more details on our privacy policy.

More details are available on worldsteel.org

Membership dues, engagement, and recognition

Annual membership dues

For steel-producing companies, annual membership dues are calculated based on actual raw steel production from the previous year at a rate set by members (for the period starting 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024 at €0.0125 per tonne). There is, however, a minimum of €5,000.00 annual dues for steel producers. For steel and steel-related associations, the current rate is €5,000.00 per annum. Membership dues are reviewed and set during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of members in October of each year. All dues are payable on1 April each year.

Engagement of members

Meeting of Members

General membership meetings are held twice a year, in April and October. There is a registration fee for participants. Travel, hotel and incidental expenses also borne by participating members. worldsteel also organises a General Assembly for members each year in October. There is a fee involved per participant. This is normally arranged back to back with the AGM to optimise travel costs for members.

For committee and project/expert group meetings, no extra participation fee but travel and all travel related costs are borne by participants. In cases when there are auxiliary activities arranged for a group of members (e.g., plant tours, evening events etc.), costs for these optional activities may be charged to participants.

Fellowship programme

worldsteel offers fellowship opportunities for high potentials in member companies to work on well-defined projects unique to the steel industry. International experience gives the fellow an opportunity to advance their career and apply knowledge acquired for future key positions within their mother company or within the industry. The normal assignment period of fellows is from 6-18 months in Brussels and/or Beijing.

Recognition programmes

Climate Action data collection programme certification

The worldsteel Climate Action data collection programme recognises (with certificate) steel producers that have fulfilled their commitment to participate in worldsteel’s CO2 emissions data collection. Based on a common methodology, steel plants can compare themselves against average and best performers and identify their scope for improvement.

Safety and Health Excellence Recognition programme

Each year worldsteel recognises member companies for their contribution to safety excellence. The best, most impactful, and transferrable initiatives are given recognition.

Steelie Awards

The Steelie Awards recognise member companies for their contribution to the steel industry over a one-year period. The selection process for nominations varies between awards. Entries are judged by selected expert panels using agreed performance criteria.

Sustainability Champions

Sustainability is a core business requirement, vital to a company’s continuing license to operate. The Sustainability Champions programme encourages member companies to set the highest standards in the area of sustainability.