Membership benefits

Introduction Benefits Governance Committees Opt-in Extranet & recognitions Dues Download brochure Enquire about membership

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 competition laws.

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

This page 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

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 to customers, media and the general public. It assists its members in developing the market for steel, with major projects in the construction and automotive sectors.

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

Who can become a member?

There are two categories of worldsteel membership:

Regular members

Regular members consist of companies having actual crude 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: Communications Committee

Commissions regular reputation research on both the steel industry and steel as a product in the top steel producing countries and regions around the world
Develops key messages and communications strategies
Coordinates member responses to worldsteel recognitions and other releases
Maintains an expanding library of publications, press bulletins, blogs, stories, images and social media materials

ECON: Economics Committee

Enhanced access to the biannual Short Range Outlook (SRO) on steel demand and related interim reports
Strategic and regional studies
Exclusive monthly updates on the Chinese steel industry developments, including demand drivers and a government policy digest
Discussion on best practices in statistical and economic forecasting methodologies

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

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

PeopleCO: People Committee

A community of people, HR and learning professionals dedicated to fostering a thriving workforce, creating an inclusive workplace, building organisational capabilities, and driving large-scale transformation processes
A forum to share best practices and benchmark information on critical people-related topics, building a more sustainable, resilient, and people-focused global steel industry
A driving force to develop and implement projects and initiatives to position the steel industry as an employer of choice and a hub for professional development

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

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, health, etc.
Safety Stories: an online platform for sharing and learning from experiences of serious incidents and near misses and online forum

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

Opt-in programmes

Our opt-in programmes aim to further the development of steel-using sectors. Currently we offer four programmes. constructsteel, WorldAutoSteel and WorldStainless require 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.

The association’s 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 constructsteel:

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

steeluniversity’s purpose is to build a resilient, future-ready workforce capable of navigating and leading the steel sector through digital, green, and social transitions.

steeluniversity serves as the cornerstone of talent development in the global steel industry. It provides a technological platform to facilitate coordination and communication, bridging the gap between industry needs and educational excellence. It drives innovation through collaborative, cost-effective learning solutions.

steeluniversity offers sector-specific learning solutions in collaboration with ecosystem partners. These solutions are designed to attract and develop talent with current and future workforce skills, strategically educate the supply chain to expand market reach, and contribute to social progress.

steeluniversity provides micro-credentials to promote continuous learning, enhance workforce mobility, and attract diverse talent. This ensures the industry has a skilled and adaptable workforce.

Benefits of joining steeluniversity:

Enhance your workforce’s capabilities and drive industry progress by accessing an extensive digital learning solutions.
Collaboratively share the development costs of cutting-edge digital training programmes.
Strategically educate clients, users, and the supply chain to expand market reach and penetration.
Increase awareness and understanding of steel products and their applications.
Attract and develop talent equipped with the current and future skills.
Contribute to overall social progress by creating a more equitable and dynamic educational system.
Access a Skill’s Directory, a comprehensive resource powered by continued insights from industry technical experts, top educators, and leading equipment providers.

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 in the advancement of automotive steel products.

Benefits of joining WorldAutoSteel:

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 beyond 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 issues and leverage AHSS applications

worldstainless is a not-for-profit research and development association which was founded in 1996. Its primary roles are to undertake stainless steel industry beneficial tasks that are better coordinated centrally in the fields of

Promoting industry and material sustainability benefits
Conserving resources and promoting the circular economy
Providing economic and industry-leading statistics
Support industry health & safety needs and developments
Outlining market development and expansion opportunities
Maintaining brand reputational positioning
Materials education

Benefits of joining worldstainless:

Compelling support and guidance primarily in three focused areas: sustainability, market development, and economics & statistics
Unrivalled industry support in three business critical areas: raw materials, industry health and safety, and brand defence
Opportunities to develop your employees’ skills and knowledge with ease through fellowship programmes, education, and enquiry handling
Automatic worldsteel membership at no additional cost
Free access to Team Stainless projects
Networking opportunities via worldstainless’ annual conference and other meetings.

worldsteel extranet

Our members have access to a vast number of documents through our member-only extranet.

Meeting documentation
Data assessment and benchmarking safety and health CO2 sustainability indicator energy efficiency maintenance and reliability process yields
Steel production, trade and use statistics: monthly and annual, by country
Biannual reporting on steel demand forecasting by country
Monthly review of China steel industry
Safety and health reports, incidents, and learnings
Individualised CO2 reports for those members who contributed their data
Free access to worldsteel public events

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.

Sustainability Charter

worldsteel has a purpose-driven and action-oriented approach to sustainability. The worldsteel Sustainability Charter includes 9 principles and 20 criteria covering the areas of environment, social, governance and economics (ESGE).

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.

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.

There are six Steelie Awards categories:

Excellence in low-carbon steel production
Innovation of the year
Excellence in sustainability
Excellence in Life Cycle Assessment
Excellence in education and training
Excellence in communications programmes

Member engagement

Meetings 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 are 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, there is 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.

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 (currently 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 on the 1 April of each year.

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