Long-term trends in steel consumption
Since the iron and steel sector contributes considerably to industrial CO2 emissions, it is important to identify the underlying factors driving steel demand. Using a panel dataset, this paper examines the interrelation of steel demand with GDP and its composition, in particular the investment share since investment goods can be expected to be particularly steel-intensive. Our analysis confirms that there seems to be an increase of steel demand in an initial stage of economic development and a decline after economies have reached a certain level of per capita income. Moreover, we find some evidence that carbon leakage does not seem to play a role in the steel sector.
Döhrn, R. und K. Krätschell (2014), Long-term trends in steel consumption. Mineral Economics, 27, 1, 43-49