Market Segment
May 7, 2020
CRU Explains: Flexibility in the Steelmaking Chain
Written by Paul Butterworth
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth and Analyst Alexander Ordosch, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service
The global Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in sharply falling steel demand all over the world. For the steel industry, it is a challenging task to reduce production levels as ~75 percent of global output is produced through the BF/BOF, or integrated steelmaking, process route. In our previous insight “CRU Explains: How Blast Furnaces Can be Idled” we covered options for cutting blast furnace (BF) production, but a BF is only one element in the steelmaking chain. In this insight, we want to cover the other vital steps for steel production and explain where the inflexibility exists.
