The steel industry has grown strongly over the past five years and is expected to continue its growth, driven primarily by the Chinese market. Although there are some fears that China might become a large-scale importer of steel, these worries are counterbalanced by the belief that China’s steel will feed domestic demand. Another factor behind the expectation of continued success for the industry is consolidation. The large companies that have benefited from M&A activity, including Arcelor Mittal and Tata Steel, wield considerable influence over steel prices and show no intentions of lowering them. Economic growth in both developed and developing countries has been tightly linked to infrastructure projects, which should make up for any downturn in worldwide financial markets. According to World Steel Dynamics, global steel demand will increase by an average of 4.5% per year between 2006 and 2017 and annual growth of consumption will be 2.9%. However, China’s annual growth of consumption is expected to be 6.1% Source: Financial Times