Currently comprising 28 members spanning six continents, the GFSEC is an international platform to develop and implement collective solutions to address global excess capacity and enhance market function in the steel sector.
Bulletin
The second quarterly GFSEC Steel Excess Capacity Monitoring Bulletin is now available. See, Q1 2026 GFSEC Excess Capacity Bulletin.pdf. This new edition provides a global overview of recent trends in steel excess capacity, steel trade flows, trade remedy initiations and export prices for key economies.
GFSEC Ministerial Meeting 2025
On 10 October 2025, the GFSEC organised a Ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Trade and Investment Ministers meeting in South Africa. The GFSEC Ministerial meeting was chaired by Australia.
For press release, see: GFSEC Ministerial Media Release 2025.pdf.
For more information about the meeting, see: 2025 Ministerial Meeting of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity
2025 Ministerial Statement
See the Ministerial Statement here, adopted by Ministers and high-level representatives from GFSEC and other invited steel-producing countries.
Bulletin
The first quarterly GFSEC Steel Excess Capacity Monitoring Bulletin is now available. See, 20251002 - GFSEC Steel Excess Capacity Monitoring Bulletin.pdf . The October edition provides an in-depth look at steel excess capacity trends, steel trade flows, trade remedy initiations, and FDI trends for key economies.
The Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC) is an international platform to find and implement collective solutions to the challenge of excess capacity and enhance market functioning in the steel sector.
It brings together policy makers and industry stakeholders to share information and cooperate in line with the call of G20 Leaders at the Hangzhou Summit in September 2016. The GFSEC was formally established in December 2016 in Berlin. Global Forum members include many of the largest steel producing economies in the world.
The Global Forum is an open platform where members participate on an equal footing. It aims to broaden its membership and is open to all steel-producing economies committed to pursuing its mission. The GFSEC is facilitated by the OECD, which provides technical, analytical and meeting assistance to support the Global Forum, its steering group and chairmanship.
Steel excess capacity is a global issue which requires attention in a global format with broad participation of economies and effective policy solutions to enhance the market function and reduce steel excess capacity. To support these, Forum members may set and publish goals, if appropriate.
In order to ensure that the steel market operates under market principles, governments and government-related entities should refrain from providing market-distorting subsidies and other types of support measures to steel producers. These include subsidies and other government support measures that sustain uneconomic steel plants, encourage investment in new steelmaking capacity which otherwise would not be built, facilitate exports of steel products, or otherwise distort competition by contributing to excess capacity.
Irrespective of ownership all enterprises acting in the steel market (whether privately owned or directly or indirectly owned, fully or in part, by their governments or by government-related entities) should not receive directly or indirectly subsidies or other type of support that distort competition by contributing to excess capacity, and should follow the same regulations with economic implications and rules, including bankruptcy procedures. A level playing field should be ensured among steel enterprises of all types of ownership. Global Forum members should also continue to fight protectionism including all unfair trade practices while recognising the role of legitimate trade defense instruments in this regard.
Open and competitive markets and a market-driven approach to resource allocation based on the competitive positions of steel enterprises should be the driving forces of the steel sector. New investment, production and trade flows should reflect market-based supply and demand conditions.
Wherever excess capacity exists, governments have a role in advancing policies that facilitate the restructuring of the steel industry while minimising the social costs to workers and communities. Governments should ensure conditions exist for market-based adjustment, by facilitating the exit of consistently loss-making firms, “zombie” firms, obsolete capacity facilities and firms not meeting environmental, quality and safety standards. This would lead to a net reduction of capacity.
Recognising that collective policy solutions and transparency are vital for market based responses by the industry to changing conditions in the steel market, governments should on a reciprocal basis increase transparency through regular information sharing, analysis, review, assessment and discussion as well as regular exchanges about data and concrete policy solutions, among the members of the Global Forum. Governments should ensure that any relevant information on steelmaking capacity developments; supply and demand conditions as well as policy responses including support measures by governments and government-related entities is available on an on-going basis. Members should exchange information on the nature and extent of export credit agency support for new steel projects. The Global Forum will report to the G20 and to interested OECD countries being member of the Global Forum on progress.
Global steel excess capacity (the global gap between demand for steel and the capacity to produce steel) is surging towards 721 million tonnes by 2027. This would be its highest level since the steel crisis of 2016.
GFSEC research shows that global excess capacity causes severe financial and operational challenges for steel producers. Excess capacity depresses steel prices, reduces profitability, and distorts trade flows, often leading to unfair competition in international markets. Steel companies that produce steel efficiently face increasing pressure and lose market shares, while their workers experience job losses and declining income opportunities, as a result of global excess capacity. Recent research shows that an estimated 113,000 jobs were lost in the members of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC) between 2013-2021 as a result of global excess steel capacity.
The GFSEC brings together policy makers and steel industry stakeholders from 28 major steel-producing economies to share information, develop solutions, and take effective steps to address the challenges of market-distortive excess capacity. Annual Ministerial Meetings provide the political impetus for action. This process has helped drive important results; global excess capacity fell from a peak of 793 million tonnes in 2015 to 526 million tonnes in 2019, when all G20 countries participated in the GFSEC process. With global excess capacity now on the rise again, more steel-producing countries need to join these efforts.
