With the technological advance of furnaces and the increasing demand for steel and iron products, steel industries increased production. This generated problems, due to the fumes released into the atmosphere while burning vegetable coal. In the mid-1800's, the daily output of a blast furnace would reach three tonnes, increasing even more the consumption of vegetable coal.

Beginning in the XX century, the steel industries increased their investments in technology so as to reduce the impact of production in the environment, enforce the safety of the employees and the community, as well as produce more steel with less inputs and raw materials.

Steel is today the most recyclable and recycled product in the world. Cars, refrigerators, ovens, cans, bars and wire become scrap, fed to the mill’s furnaces, producing again steel with the same quality. See the Recycling flow.

Furthermore, the steel companies take part in several international agreements to reserve the environment. In the 1990s, the United Nations Convention Panel for Climate Changes established a reduction in the emission of greenhouse effect gases, determining that the countries should submit projects regarding Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM). During the 2004 Stockholm Convention, the countries committed to developing a national control plan for Persistent Organic Polluting Agents (POPA). The steel industry is committed to both initiatives, as well as others in the same regard. Learn more about it in Environment and Social Responsibility.

As for production, the forecast is of growth in the main developed economies and the maintenance of the expanding pace of Asian countries, specially China and India. There is some level of uncertainty related to issues such as the increase of interest rates in the US and Europe, the price of oil, terrorism and the crisis in the Middle East, the political scenario in Latin America, but it does not seem likely that these should affect significantly the growth of the market and of world trade of steel.

On the other hand, the concern for a possible loss of balance between supply and demand due to an excess of production capacity remains, mainly for China. However, such threat should not produce any relevant effects until 2008. Another issue to be considered in the ongoing consolidation process in the sector. Mergers and acquisitions including the main global players should still be a constant for some time.