Global steel excess capacity was over 600 million tons. The excess capacity is mainly concentrated in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that most of this new capacity is concentrated in carbon-intensive coal-based furnaces (blast furnaces), which will emit large amounts of carbon dioxide over several decades and will undermine the EU steel industry's efforts to reduce emissions.

The OECD has expressed concern about the deterioration of the global steel market, which is caused by increasing overcapacity due to government intervention. It was expected that by 2026, an additional 150 million tons of new capacity will be put into operation.