Global steel industry insight
Steel is a globally strategic industry. It is a fundamental material used in countless applications that touch our everyday lives. Despite this, up until relatively recently, the steel industry around the world was characterised by stability and predictability. Well, this has changed and changed dramatically.
A few key elements worth noting:
- BlueScope Steel makes about eight million tonnes of steel per year. This makes us a big player in our own region, but relatively small in the global context
- The massive influence of China since the late 90s, both on steel consumption and production
- Global steel production has grown dramatically since 1998. About 500 million tonnes of capacity have been added, which is equivalent to an additional 100 Port Kembla Steelworks or about a trillion dollars of additional investment.
Some of the more striking elements of the change in the steel industry include:
- The considerable consolidation since 2003.
- Steel is a heavily fragmented industry (i.e. it has a large number of companies) compared to the iron ore and coal mining industries.
- In what has been described as a "global iron ore price revolution", there has been a fundamental change in the methodology underpinning iron ore and coal pricing.
- Global steel production has leapt since 1998.
- The emergence, in recent years, of Brazil, Russia, India and China as key industry players.
- China becoming the world’s dominant steel making nation.
The global steel scene is undergoing a dramatic change, with the raw materials pricing issue, in particular, impacting on all market sectors, including that of pipelines.
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Download Global Steel Industry: An Australian Perspective. by Bernie Landy, General Manager Industrial Markets, BlueScope Steel (498 KB)
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