Steel is the mainstay of the world’s major industries. World
steel production has grown dramatically as countries industrialize and
add their own steel-producing capacity. China’s prodigious
expansion of steel output increases the industry’s natural
vulnerability to oversupply and volatile prices.
Big Steel explores how the integrated steel industry is
adapting to trade and international competition. These arise from the
industry’s diffusion beyond its historical core in North America
and Europe. To show how this occurred, Big Steel applies Paul
Krugman’s Nobel-Prize-winning explanation of industrial location
and trade. The industry’s technology and economic structure, and
the pricing strategies available, produce fateful competition and
incentives to consolidate internationally. Examining the
industry’s survival options, including close co-operation with
its primary customers, the automakers, this book anticipates a
cosmopolitan future. It is a straightforward account of a complicated
process, and the development of a new phase in the global steel
business.