POSCO has been named the world's most competitive steelmaker for the third straight year. The World Steel Dynamics on Saturday announced the rankings of 35 global steel firms based on 23 categories including expanding capacity, profitability, harnessing the technological revolution, pricing power with large buyers, and cost-cutting efforts.

The Korean steelmaker held the top spot from 2002 to 2004 but was dethroned by its Russian and Indian rivals that own iron ore mines. It reclaimed the crown in 2010.

Russia's Novolipetsk Steel took second place with 7.43 points in the latest rankings, followed by Brazil's CSN (7.42 points), Severstal of Russia (7.3 points) and China’s Baoshan Iron and Steel (7.24 points).