Technology and market are the two major determinants that affect the structure and layout of the steel industry. As the core of Industry 4.0，the digital economy leads the fourth industrial revolution，creating unprecedented opportunities for the transformation，upgrading and future development of the steel industry. As the industrial backbone of countries around the world，the steel industry supports and promotes the development of all industries in society. At present，infrastructure industry，automotive manufacturing，and machinery manufacturing are the main sources of world steel demand. However，since the international financial crisis，the overcapacity of the steel industry has continued and become a long-term problem faced by all countries in the world. The layout of the world steel industry has undergone several changes in the long-term economic development，forming the current layout of production，consumption and trade with different characteristics. The rapid development of the digital economy will bring disruptive changes to the steel industry and have a profound impact on the structure and layout of the steel industry. In order to study the impact and trend of the digital economy on the structure and layout of the steel industry，this paper starts from the analysis of the current situation of the world and China’s steel industry structure and layout，and finds that the digital economy can promote the digital transformation and upgrading of the entire steel industry chain by empowering the steel industry and its upstream and downstream industries. The digital economy improves the total factor productivity of steel enterprises through channels such as promoting enterprise innovation，improving resource allocation efficiency，and alleviating asymmetric information，thereby realizing the optimization and adjustment of the structure and layout of the steel industry.