The Use Of Steel Increases As Demands Strengthen
During the last 4 years there has been apex performance in the steel sector. It has been proved that for the last 37 years it is only the steel industry that has figured in the top consistently for 5 years.China has been a major force in the steel industry. There has been a rise of steel produce from 13% in 1995 to 32% in 2005 in China. However, China’s demand for steel has grown just as fast, and it remains a net importer of steel.
In the recent times due to global market the steel industry has undergone a significant impulsiveness. It is the global market that drives the steel sector.During the 2008-2009 period the crash in the steel market has forced the US to introduce import tariffs. Activity in the UK steel-using sectors continued to decline sharply in the 2nd quarter of 2009. There was a decrease of about 23% in the time related to the same period in 2008. All the industries has to face the situation of decreased demand for the industrial produce in UK as well as the international markets.
New World Steel Trends
There as been a sharp rise in the levels of production of steel in the late 20th century to a shocking figure of 800 million tons per year.Today, it is difficult to imagine a world without steel.
During the 20th century, the consumption of steel increased at an average annual rate of 3.3%.It was the US that had the production of about 37% of total steel requirement of the world. With post war industrial development in Asia that region now (at the turn of the century) accounts for almost 40%, with Europe (including the former Soviet Union) producing 36% and North America 14.5%.
Steel consumption increases when economies are growing, as governments invest in infrastructure and transport, and build new factories and houses.Economic recession meets with a dip in steel production as such investments falter. The trend over the past three decades can also be seen to be in line with cyclical economic trends, with alternating periods of prosperity and recession. It is during this time that the demand for steel shot up in Western Europe apart from USA, Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and Japan. In any case one can witness a lot of permanency in the steel sector over a period of time .
Towards the end of the last century, growth of steel production was seen in the developing countries such as China, Brazil and India, as well as newly developed South Korea. Steel production and consumption grew steadily in China in the initial years but later it picked up momentum and the closing years of the century saw it racing ahead of the rest of the world.
The Future of Steel
In the recent countries it is South Korea and Brazil taking the lead with 46-48 million tones and 30 plus million tones respectively. This now leads the way to India. There has been a notification of steel production that has to be around 300 million tones per person so as to get a demarcation of being a developed country for India. That seems a far possibility with the current levels of consumption of only 50 million though one has to recollect its past history. In the year of independence 1947 India had a production of only one million tones. The rise to 14 million tones was noticed only after the economy was made a free zone in 1991. There is two fold increase in the production even when it has taken 10 years and is also doubling over the years. Steel Production in India is expected to reach 124 million tons by 2012 and 275 million tons by 2020, which could make it the second largest steel maker .
In the developed countries, the trend is on consolidation of industry. There has been an era of mergers taking place in the past many years. The primary aim has been to develop new products with the use of latest technology.
During the 2004 year the steel segment has seen a rise to the peak of billion tones. Much more, its growth will depend primarily on how much more steel is consumed in the developing countries.
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