By any measure, steel is the world’s most widely used metal. It is versatile, durable, and relatively cheap to produce. Steel plays an invaluable role in everything from the tallest skyscraper to the smallest kitchen utensil. Steel plays an invaluable role in nearly every aspect of modern society.
History of Steel
Steel has a very long history. As humans began to use iron tools and weapons more, they discovered that they could increase its strength and reduce its weaknesses by alloying it with other ingredients. At some point, people stumbled upon steel. Steel tools and weapons have been found at a 4,000-year-old site in modern Turkey. Horace mentions that the Romans used steel weapons more than 2,000 years ago, and excavations show that the Chinese have been using steel for at least 2,400 years.
In 855, English chemist Henry Bessemer invented a more efficient method for making steel, now known as the Bessemer process. This method was crucial to the start of the modern steel industry. While the Bessemer process is no longer in use, it helped make steel cheap, replacing iron for the first time in history, and it was the primary method of steel production until the mid-20th century.
Steel by the Numbers
Steel production continues to grow at an incredible rate. It is estimated that global steel production in 2018 was close to 4 trillion pounds. China is the world’s largest supplier of steel, producing 928.3 million metric tons. This accounts for almost half of global steel production. India is second with 106.5 million metric tons. Japan is third with 104.3 million metric tons, and the United States is fourth with 86.7 million tons.
The Future of Steel
While steel production is still large, today more specialty products are made with specialty aluminum, carbon fiber, and plastics. The steel industry is working to return to these areas.
The biggest hurdle facing the steel industry is developing new steel production processes that reduce and eliminate CO2 emissions. Recycling is critical to the future of metals, and steel is no exception. Recycling steel for new and improved projects will not only provide benefits to our environment, but it will also potentially reduce costs and expand availability. While many view recycled steel as “scrap metal” or devalued material, advances in steel recycling are leading to huge economic and environmental improvements.
Additionally, extreme weather conditions in 2017 and 2018 had a significant impact on global steel deliveries. Our own parent company, ThyssenKrupp, faced major delivery issues due to historically low water levels in the Rhine River. For this reason, many steel giants are investigating ways to reduce their impact and offset environmental damage.