POSCO, South Korea's biggest steelmaker, has regained its status as the world's fourth-largest steel-producing firm, data from the World Steel Association showed Tuesday.

The Pohang-based company produced 41.9 million tons of crude steel in 2015, ranking as the world's fourth largest steel producer, up one notch in the ranking.

It ranked fourth by output in 2011, but it remained fifth for three years till last year.

POSCO's production was little changed from the 41.5 million tons recorded in 2014.

The shift in the ranking is due to the sharp reduction in the production of China's Baosteel Group, which ranked as the world's No. 4 in 2014, from 43.3 million tons to 34.9 million tons last year.

South Korea's number two steelmaker Hyundai Steel ranked 13th with 20 million tons of crude steel production.

ArcelorMittal, headquartered in Luxembourg, maintained its top position with 97.1 million tons of production, followed by China's Hebei Iron & Steel Group with 47.7 million tons.

"Chinese steelmakers have decreased production starting late last year," said Chung Eun-mi, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade. "Especially, Baosteel Group, heavily affected by the Chinese government, seems to have cut production amid the authorities' policy of tackling oversupply.

In fact, the global crude steel production dipped 2.9 percent to 1.62 billion tons in 2015 from 1.67 billion tons a year earlier.

China's output, totaling 830 million tons, accounted for about half of the world's production.

Japan and India trailed China with 150.2 million tons and 89.4 million tons, respectively. South Korea ranked sixth with 69.7 million tons.

"South Korea recorded a decline in steel demand with a slump in the construction and manufacturing sector," Chung said. "Such a trend is expected to continue through this year amid a reduction in the Chinese market demand." (Yonhap)