|
Australian steel is world recognised for its quality and consistency. The broader Australian steel industry has a turnover of $29 billion and provides employment to over 91,000 people (ref. ABS). The annual capacity of Australian steelmakers is 8 million tonnes of which approximately 1,600,000 tonnes is structural steel used for industrial, commercial and residential buildings, bridges, towers and masts, maritime structures, mining and materials handling projects. There are estimated to be 50,000 tonnes of structural steel stock in the distribution chain at any one time.
A survey in 2007 of 48 ASI member fabricator companies revealed that those involved in medium to large projects had invested in the order of $4.4 million per business in the last two years. This represents a total recorded investment of $210 million over the 48 fabricators surveyed. The ASI estimate based on this survey and results obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have the total investment across the Australian fabricator industry over this time in excess of $40 million. These investments include new overhead cranes, plate rolling equipment, CNC beam lines, angle lines and plasma cutting lines installed in the last two years and this investment will result in an increased capacity in the sample surveyed, of 143,000 tonnes.
Approximate segmentation of steel usage in Australia (ref. BSL)
Agriculture 8%
Dwelling Construction 6%
Non Dwelling Construction 13%
Engineering Construction 21%
Manufacturing Plant and Equipment 14%
Vehicles and transport 13%
Mining 17%
Other 8%
Market Sectors
 |
