Steel is one of the most important part of almost every industry. Construction of high rise buildings, bridges, metro, roads and factories cannot be imagined without steel. It is used in many forms in the different industries and is a major reinforcement material along with Iron. Steel was invented around 100 years ago. The importance of steel has risen by leaps and bounds due to various reasons and attributes of steel. Steel does not get rusted easily and is light-weight as compared to Iron. It is durable, ductile, malleable, corrosion resistant and fire-resistant among scores of other benefits. All these features of Steel have made it the king of raw materials used in almost every industry.

Steel is mostly used as structural steel which is the most preferred framework material for residential as well as non-residential construction. The steel beams and columns are the skeleton of the building and support the entire construction just like the bones in a body do. Angle bars, I-Beams, H beams, IPE etc. are some of the other structural elements required in the construction. It is therefore clear that steel is indispensable in industries. The growth in the steel industry is a manifestation of this fact. Steel industry across the globe has shown tremendous growth in the past two decades. Government projects involving metro, roads and bridge construction has also fuelled the growth. The growth in the real estate is also linked to the growth in the steel industry. The specially processed steel like galvanized steel has made steel more versatile and fit for various purposes. Some of the commonly used steel products are steel sections, steel pipe, steel tube, steel coil, steel sheet and steel plate. The process of galvanization increases the strength and durability of steel. Steel has several grades and steel prices vary accordingly. Other types of steel are:

• Galvanized steel
• Galvalume Steel
• Prepainted Steel
• Hot rolled steel
• Cold rolled steel

The floating steel prices across the globe - A study

Steel prices are not fixed and vary according to the rule of demand and supply. Over the years, the steel prices of reduced considerably and if you have bulk requirement of steel for any purpose, it is the best time to buy. Once the constructions are on in full swing and the recession subsides, the price of steel is likely to skyrocket. The price of steel is also dependent on the grade of steel. Steel can be of different grades depending on its purity and amount of components added to Iron, which is the principle element present in steel. The price of steel also depends on the treatment of steel. For instance, normal steel and galvanized steel have a price difference and so has the Boron added steel equipment. The chromated galvalume steel has a higher price than galvanized steel as it has various advantages in comparison to galvanized steel. Galvalume steel which has the additional property of being anti-fingerprint is priced higher than any other form of steel. Similarly, cold rolled, hot rolled and pre-painted steel also have different prices. Steel prices also vary country to country. There are many countries which produce a lot of iron ore and such countries are able to make their own steel and therefore in the local market, the price of steel is less. However, when the same steel is exported to other countries, the price increases manifold.

Multiple factors come together to control and change the prices of steel globally

The freight charges, custom duty and other taxes are added on to it. The commonly used Steel products that are used for various purposes like construction of bridges, buildings and automobiles, etc. are steel sheets, plates, coils and wires. As they have high tensile strength they are also used for making cables of lifts that are used to carry heavy load. For example, the wires of lift in colliery are made of steel. These wires are used to pull coal and the miners out of the mines. As this requires strength, steel is invariably used for this purpose. All the skyscrapers and high-rise buildings that we see around us cannot stand without the strong support of steel.

• The steel industry is an evergreen industry as use of steel cannot stop.
• The steel prices vary from country to country and quality to quality.