Steel Industry - Term Paper Example

This has been the case in the oil industry. However, the steel industry is more complex. The steel industry does not suffer from scarcity of resources. Hence the same barriers of entry to the industry do not exist. Nor does the steel industry suffer from controls exercised by OPEC; the cartel that controls the oil industry. This lays the foundation of a very different and potentially more volatile industry especially when there are some governments that subsidise their steel industries which has an impact on the level and effectiveness of competition.

There is little doubt that with the broad range of industries that are reliant on steel this is an industry with a long term future. However, this does not assure the future of any particular firm within the industry nor does it indicate the way that firms will have to compete within the industry. One thing is certain; the firms that are active within the industry will need to understand the influences, and this is likely to impact the performance of the companies. In order to develop an understanding of the steel industry as a whole the paper will start by giving a good overview of the state industry in terms of the cost at the present time.

This will help to provide the context and background relevant to understanding the sector. Following the assessment of the industry three companies have been chosen, in order to give an insight into the way firms within the industry are performing. These are different in terms of size, types of steel produced and each firm has been incorporated in a different country, although all of the companies compete in the global marketplace. The three companies chosen are; The United States Steel Corporation, China Precision Steel Inc.

and Arcelor Mittal.2. The Steel Industry 2.1 Historical Performance of the Steel Industry In the middle of the 19th century, steel was used throughout the world, and the United States became the largest single steel producing nation by the end of the 19th centu