Facts and key ratios

Facts about the Swedish iron and steel industry.

Production plants

  • Three integrated ore-based iron and steel plants.
  • Eleven scrap-based steel plants.
  • About fifteen finishing plants.

Production

  • Crude steel production in 2023: 4.3 million tonnes (world production: 1.850 million tonnes).
  • Special steels represent a high share of total production. Alloy steels comprised 55% of the production in 2023.
  • Very niche-oriented production with ever greater focus on steel that delivers environmental benefits from a life-cycle perspective.
  • One third of the crude steel production is scrap-based and two thirds are ore-based production (learn more: Processes).
  • Production of approx. 2 million tonnes of residues (2018), of which 78% is used internally or sold and 22% goes to landfill.

Foreign trade

  • Most of the manufactured steel products are exported.
  • Export value in 2023: SEK 68.1 billion.
  • Export volume in 2023: 2.9 million tonnes.
  • In 2023, steel exports went to 148 countries. A bit more than 70% of the total went to the EU and Great Britain.
  • Major share of the feedstock input is Swedish, e.g. iron ore, scrap, electricity and limestone.
  • Coke and alloying elements as well as oil and natural gas are imported.

Energy 

  • Energy consumption in 2021: 20 TWh.
  • Electricity consumption in 2021: 3,6 TWh.
  • Sale of about 2 TWh of energy annually in the form of process gases, electricity and district heating.

Emissions 

  • 1.9 ktonnes of nitrogen oxides (2019)
  • 1.2 ktonnes of sulphur oxides (2019)
  • 5.7 Mtonnes of carbon dioxide (2022, according to statistics from the EU emissions trading system)

Employment 

  • Employment in 2023: 16,600 persons.
  • Indirect employment in 2023: 28,000 persons*.

*) Estimated with an employment multiplier of 2.69 based on an input/output-analysis.