Steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon containing less than 2 percent carbon and 1 percent manganese and small amounts of silicon, phosphorus, sulphur and oxygen. It is environmentally friendly in that it is recyclable and requires considerable less energy to produce than some other metals. On its own, basic steel will rust when it comes into contract with oxygen and moisture, however, when steel is coated, either by paint, enamel, or is galvanised, rusting can be prevented. Steel can also be alloyed with other metals to make stainless steel.

Applications
Steel is the most important engineering and construction material, it's used in every aspect of our lives, from: railway tracks, electricity pylons, ships, office building, cars, household goods, radiators, cutlery, pots and pans down to paperclips and staples.

Production Steel is made either from raw materials, these being iron ore, limestone, and coke, or from scrap. The scrap method is by far the cheapest as it requires scrap iron and scrap steel plus various additives to produce the required end-product. In 2003, some 960 million tonnes of steel was produced, of this some 60% came from recycled steel.

Steel is made into various shapes and sizes:
Long steel products are rods, bars and sections, with rods typically used to reinforce concrete, bars are used in engineering products such as gears and tools, and sections are rolled steel joists, (RSJ's) used for construction projects. Wire drawn productions and pipes are also long products.

Flat steel products are plates and hot or cold rolled strip. Plate products vary between 1cm to 2 cm in thickness and are used in construction, ship building, boilers and large pipes, while rolled products are used in vehicle body panels, casings for white goods, tin cans and host of other products.

China is the largest producer of steel, it produced 220 million tonnes in 2003, but with its consumption running at 245 million tonnes, it was also a large importer of steel to the tune of 29 million tones, just below US imports of 30 million tonnes. Japan is the second largest producer followed by the USA

Demand
There are over 3,500 different grades of steel, each suited for its end-use and all with varying physical and chemical properties. 75% of these new steels have been developed in the past 20 years as industry strives to optimise the strength and weight of the steel it uses. China has become the largest consumer of steel, it consumed 245 million tonnes in 2003. As China and other parts of asia look to expand their infrastructure demand for steel is booming. In the three years bewteen 2001 and 2004, consumption of finished steel has increased from 766 mt to 918 mt, this is a year on year increase in excess of 6 percent. This comapres to a annual increase of between 2.5 percent in the 1992 to 2002 decade and 1.2 percent annual increase seen in the 1970 to 2000 period.

BaseMetals.com Disclaimer and Privacy Policy
BaseMetals.com has taken every precaution to provide the most accurate information possible. However it is provided without warranty or claim of reliablity.

PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE. BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THE SITE. BASEMETALS.COM MAY MODIFY THIS AGREEMENT FROM TIME TO TIME, AND SUCH MODIFICATIONS SHALL BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UPON POSTING OF THE MODIFIED AGREEMENT ON THE SITE. YOU AGREE TO REVIEW THE AGREEMENT PERIODICALLY TO BE AWARE OF SUCH MODIFICATIONS AND YOUR CONTINUED ACCESS OR USE OF THE SITE SHALL BE DEEMED YOUR CONCLUSIVE ACCEPTANCE OF THE MODIFIED AGREEMENT.

It is accepted by the site visitor on the condition that errors or omissions shall not be made the basis for any claim, demand or cause for action. The information and data were obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy.

YOU MAY NOT MODIFY, COPY, REPRODUCE, REPUBLISH, UPLOAD, POST, TRANSMIT, OR DISTRIBUTE, IN ANY MANNER, THE MATERIAL ON THE SITE, INCLUDING TEXT, GRAPHICS, CODE AND/OR SOFTWARE. You may print and download portions of material from the different areas of the Site solely for your own non-commercial use provided that you agree not to change or delete any copyright or proprietary notices from the materials. You agree to grant to BaseMetals.com a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license, with the right to sub-license, to reproduce, distribute, transmit, create derivative works of, publicly display and publicly perform any materials and other information (including, without limitation, ideas contained therein for new or improved products and services) you submit to any public areas of the Site (such as bulletin boards, forums and newsgroups) or by e-mail to BaseMetals.com by all means and in any media now known or hereafter developed. You also grant to BaseMetals.com the right to use your name in connection with the submitted materials and other information as well as in connection with all advertising, marketing and promotional material related thereto. You agree that you shall have no recourse against BaseMetals.com for any alleged or actual infringement or misappropriation of any proprietary right in your communications to BaseMetals.com.

YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND THE INTERNET. BASEMETALS.COM PROVIDES THE SITE AND RELATED INFORMATION "AS IS" AND DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR ENDORSEMENTS WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR NONINFRINGEMENT, OR THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE) WITH REGARD TO THE SERVICE, ANY MERCHANDISE INFORMATION OR SERVICE PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR ON THE INTERNET GENERALLY, AND BASEMETALS.COM SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY COST OR DAMAGE ARISING EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM ANY SUCH TRANSACTION. IT IS SOLELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND USEFULNESS OF ALL OPINIONS, ADVICE, SERVICES, MERCHANDISE AND OTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR ON THE INTERNET GENERALLY. BASEMETALS.COM DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED.

IN NO EVENT WILL BASEMETALS.COM BE LIABLE FOR (I) ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, OR ANY INFORMATION, OR TRANSACTIONS PROVIDED ON THE SERVICE, OR DOWNLOADED FROM THE SERVICE, OR ANY DELAY OF SUCH INFORMATION OR SERVICE. EVEN IF BASEMETALS.COM OR ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR (II) ANY CLAIM ATTRIBUTABLE TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE SERVICE AND/OR MATERIALS OR INFORMATION DOWNLOADED THROUGH THE SERVICE.

BaseMetals.com makes no representations whatsoever about any other web site which you may access through this one or which may link to this Site. When you access a non-BaseMetals.com Web site, please understand that it is independent from BaseMetals.com, and that BaseMetals.com has no control over the content on that Web site. In addition, a link to a BaseMetals.com Web site does not mean that BaseMetals.com endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content, or the use, of such Web site.

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless BaseMetals.com, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, suppliers and any third party information providers to the Service from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any violation of this Agreement (including negligent or wrongful conduct) by you or any other person accessing the Service.

Some of the information on this Web site may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of BaseMetals.com Limited. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that the actual events or results may differ materially.

This agreement shall be construed according according to the laws of the United Kingdom.

© 2000 BaseMetals.com Limited.