This book provides a basic guide to the iron and steel industry in a single convenient reference source. The origins of steel and its manufacture are explained first, with a basic outline of the principal steel grades. The author then goes on to look at production and consumption and its commercial significance. He also analyses the global trade in steel and shows its importance to the metals industry as alloying elements and coatings. The final section considers the future for steel, the changing trade patterns, environmental issues and the threat of substitutes to the industry.

Originally published in 1989. The international steel industry suffered a major decline after the onset of world recession in 1973, perhaps suffering more plant closures and job losses than any other sector. This book analyses the decline, surveying the various factors which have contributed to it, such as changing production strategies, changes in demand and world trade and changing regional production trends. It goes on to examine the impact of decline on steel-making communities, considering the various local, national and international initiatives to assist the affected areas and the way these initiatives have been devised and implemented. The authors conclude that none of these policies has satisfactorily resolved the crisis in the old steel producing areas and that a major crisis in these areas continues. Finally they discuss the social and political options open to these localities for the future.

This book explores the principles of supply-side structural reform and current practices in the Chinese steel industry. Focusing on the general requirements for high-quality development, it reviews the evolution of the global and Chinese steel industries with regard to reduction, innovation, and transformation. It also summarizes industrial development law from a transfer route perspective, analyzes major challenges and opportunities for the steel industry in the new era, and proposes strategic orientation and implementation measures for the future development of the steel industry. The book contends that high-quality development of the steel industry must be driven by innovation, and it is essential to promote integrated development based on several aspects – greenness, coordination, quality, standardization, differentiation, service, intelligence, diversification, and internationalization – in order to reshape the industrial value chain and continuously improve industrial competitiveness. This concept is essential to help Chinese steel companies prepare development plans for transformation and upgrading. Combining thorough analysis, unique insights, and many practical cases, the book offers a guide to and inspiration for future implementation approaches.