Steel 2014: A review of South Africa's steel sector

Globally, the steel industry has enjoyed a decade of unprecedented growth, fuelled by the expansion of developing economies, particularly the industrialisation and urbanisation of China. The demand for infrastructure, such as buildings, roads and railway lines, has resulted in global per capita steel consumption tripling from 150 kg/capita to 450 kg/capita in the past decade and production increasing to 3.5% in 2013. However, the steel industry is moving into a lower growth phase as the Chinese economy matures, following a period of steel-intensive, infrastructure-led growth. In South Africa, output remains lower than the 7.5-million tonnes it produced in 2011 and significantly lower than the peak of 9.7-million tonnes in 2006. Steel demand has grown at 1% a year over the past 20 years, but since 2007, demand has been contracting, on average, by 5% a year. Creamer Media’s Steel 2014 report provides an overview of the global steel industry and particularly of South Africa’s steel sector over the past year, including details of production and consumption, as well as the country's primary carbon steel and stainless steel producers.