It's interesting that even with all the trouble in Rust Belt, deindustrializaition, and offshoring, U.S. still makes more steel than Russia. So, obviously it should be enough for tanks.
Of course both of these countries are absolutely dwarfed by China, which made 1,013,000 tons. Japan made 89,235 (8.8% of China), U.S. made 80,715 (7.9% of China), and Russia eked out 71,500 tons (7.0% of China's output). Germany managed 36,849, which is respectable for its size. Unfortunately, their output is rapidly declining and 2023 isn't going to be great for German steel production.
Of course both of these countries are absolutely dwarfed by China, which made 1,013,000 tons. Japan made 89,235 (8.8% of China), U.S. made 80,715 (7.9% of China), and Russia eked out 71,500 tons (7.0% of China's output). Germany managed 36,849, which is respectable for its size. Unfortunately, their output is rapidly declining and 2023 isn't going to be great for German steel production.
@union US makes a lot of steel, but the US imports most of the raw materials, we don't make enough of the pig iron that goes into the steel and we have to compete with the rest of the world for that.
US also tends to make the high value, high quality steel and import the lower quality stuff for tasks that don't need higher quality.
US also tends to make the high value, high quality steel and import the lower quality stuff for tasks that don't need higher quality.
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@kazriko U.S. steelmakers consume about 70 million tons of iron scrap each year, and 57 million tons of it ends in 86 million tons of steel that we make. The 27 million tons end in slag or burn (for non-iron contaminants that go into flute gases). This ratio of recycling is primarily why U.S. imports very little iron for steelmaking.
@union True, recycling is quite advanced in the steel industry. We don't make much of the input iron ourselves, so that little bit of new iron we use ends up being largely imported, even if it's far less than our steel output totals.