You probably don’t think about how the steel industry affects you very often, but the limbs of this Carnegie-sized giant are far-reaching into our everyday basis more than you may realize.
Throughout your day you use dozens of things that are made using steel. Everything from household appliances, utensils, tools, cars, and buildings. With all of these crucial products, it’s important that the world has a constant supply of steel.
Where Does Your Steel Come From?
While there are steel manufacturing plants all over the world, the top ten come from Europe and Asia. With the continued rise in steel demand, there is a need for more companies to produce more steel than ever before.
To further understand who the major players are in the steel game, the team at Coast to Coast Carports put together this useful infographic.
Take a look at the top ten steel producing companies from around the globe:
How Does the Steel Industry Affect You?
In short, the current state of the steel industry affects your wallet. Think about all the items you use daily that are made of steel. If there were to be a shortage of steel all of these items would become more expensive to buy.
This is extremely important for the construction and automotive industries.
For most of the new cars on the road, it’s estimated that over 60% of its weight consists of steel.
It is also used to make large machines in factories that make many household goods like processed food, molded plastic items, furniture, and electronics.
Most of the items we use daily have been made using some kind of steel machinery making steel one of the most important resources in the world.
Steel During COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many manufacturing plants were shut down to lower the risk of contamination and spread of the virus. This caused steel demand to fall significantly compared to last year.
Now that many non-essential construction projects are back and automotive manufacturers are slowly returning to work, the steel industry is projected to make a full recovery.
Because steel is an integral part of the construction of so many tools, products, and other industries, its production was deemed essential in most countries.
As other industries that require steel come back, the steel industry will not have to catch-up along with them, making for very positive projections for the upcoming years.
Even today with cars being made using less heavy steel and more lightweight materials like plastic and carbon fiber, there are some components that will always need steel such as the frame, engine, and some body panels.
So how does the steel industry affect you on a day to day? Well, let’s just say that it’s *essential* and leave it at that.