Industry revenue of “Iron Smelting and Steel Manufacturing“ in Australia 2011-2023

Up until two decades ago, the steel industry in Australia was considered to be one of the strongest pillars of its economy. However, over the years, the industry has faced strong competition from overseas firms mainly in China, India and Japan, which have especially benefitted from the lower operational costs and worker wages. As a result domestic production has declined and employment levels within the sector have fallen nearly 26 percent between 2006-2015, as per the official data from the Australian Parliament House. Therefore, industry revenues are projected to decline from 10.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 to 6.8 billion U.S. dollars by 2023.

In 2018, crude steel production in Australia amounted to 6.9 million tonnes, a 14 percent decline as compared to the previous year, as per data from wordsteel.org. In comparison, China was the global leader, with an annual production of 928 million tonnes, accounting for over 50 percent of the worldwide share. Unsurprisingly, it was also the leading steel exporter during the same period, with over 68 million metric tons of steel exported worldwide.