Steel for the development

 No doubt that steel is one of the most important materials for the national development. Global steel consumption in 2021 is 1.87 billion metric tons. But for every nation in different period, demand for certain steel products is different.

In the very first phase, the main demand is steel for basic construction like bar, rebar, wire rod, pipe steel. In this period, the appearance of a countries is dramatically change. Roads, bridge, ports, etc. are built. Tall buildings or at least house built with concrete replaces cottage and low-storied structures.

In the second phase, the main demand is steel for manufacturing industry like machinery, traffic vehicles. The nation will make a bigger step to electrifying and mechanizing process.

In the third phase, the main demand is steel for sophisticated devices, exact mechanics with special properties.

During the process, the demand for quality replaces the demand for quantity.

Steel-making is generally switched from developed countries like US, Canada, EU, Japan, Korea to developing countries like China, Southeast Asia because developed countries are now rich enough to care more about the environment, they don't want to live with industries causing pollution any more. The tax on environmental protection and high price of labor come into the produced steel make it unable to compete with developing countries' while in developed countries there is no longer demand for large quantities of steel for basic construction. They manufacture machinery, equipment and device for less developing countries to earn extra profit and if they need, they import cheaper steel from developing countries.

Currently, the war between Ukraine and Russia makes the energy price higher. Not only steel-making but also other branches are difficult to survive. Governments, however, definitely don't want to depend all on import. They has to consider measures to protect domestic industry to ensure the autonomy.

With the development of science and technology, more and more optimal materials are studied and developed, of course.

Quangngai, November, 25th, 2022