Let’s talk about steel and (new) markets

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What is certain is that there is not, in this new world, a single event that does not involve, sooner or later, also the other Countries. As a matter of fact, in 2012 owing to the slowdown of lots of economies, the world business lived a downturn phase and consequently also the performances of the steel sector. But each cloud has a silvery edge. In 2013, in slightly more than one semester, steel scored a production rise amounting to 2.5%. This was made possible by the Asian continent that has achieved these results: +3% in terms of production, one billion metric tons and + 65% of the world production. And Europe? Because of the shrinkage of the automotive and construction sectors, the European area was affected by the 4.5% drop in terms of volumes produced. In the short term the sector outlook remains stable, even slightly positive with the approximate 3% increase in the next four-year period. But all will depend on the trends of single markets, on the criticality and instability factors of some areas. And in all this, how does the Land of the Dragon influence the world trends? Well, we might answer as follows. It is actually the first economy of our time; it is the first exporting Country with almost 2,300 billion dollars in 2013, with a GDP slightly under eight percent; first consumer of industrial machines in the world. A Country with a good technological level, willing to grow in its inside and to improve. But it is not an easy nation and it is not a saturated Country in terms of know how. For sectors like high speed, energy, automotive and aeronautics they will not succeed in being autonomous. Fields certainly needing high-quality raw materials, to be worked with as much experience and ability. Therefore, for still a decade they will need Europe on one hand and the United States of America on the other hand. Some Countries like Japan, Germany, Taiwan, South Korea and USA have already undertaken a course of industrial and commercial rooting in China for a long time. At the end of this short list appears also Italy, the Country of “Bel Canto”, which in this case sings a melody that anyway leads it to rank, even if last, among the 6 partner Countries of China. Let’s always keep high our engineering skills, then, let’s innovate, let’s always look with great respect at Countries like China where to do our businesses but especially let’s remember that “the best way to invent our future is to create it”.