exsteel reports the United States structural steel industry

Nov 21, 2013

ShangHai Exsteel Co.,ltd reports:

The United States structural steel industry annually supplies fabricated and erected structural steel framing to over 50,000 buildings through a network of producers, service centers, steel fabricators and erectors.Total industry employment is estimated to be in excess of 300,000 individuals in 4,000 firms.Total industry revenue in 2008 is estimated to be in excess of 20 billion dollars.Structural Steel Supply Chain The four distinct components of the structural steel industry are:Producers of structural steel products including hot-rolled structural shapes (wide flange beams, plate, channels and angles) and manufacturers of hollow structural sections (formerly known as tubular steel). Service Centers that function as warehouses and provide limited processing of structural material prior to fabrication. Structural Steel Fabricators that physically prepare the structural steel for a building through a process of developing detailed drawings (the work of a detailer) based upon the construction drawings provided by a structural engineer; material management; cutting; drilling; shop fitting (bolting and welding); painting (when required); and shipping. 

Erectors that construct the structural steel frame on the project site by bolting and field welding structural steel components together according to the construction documents. Producers (* denotes AISC member company) Three major mill producers (Nucor-Yamato Steel/Nucor Berkeley*, Gerdau-Ameristeel* and Steel Dynamics Inc.*) account for over 90% of all wide flange steel produced in the United Five producers, including the three major mills, supply the market with miscellaneous hot-rolled shapes such as angles and channels.

 All hot-rolled products are produced utilizingelectric arc furnaces utilizing ferrous scrap as the primary feed stock.The use of scrap results in an average recycled content of 88% for all hot-rolled structural material produced in the United States. Structural steel, long considered the premier green construction material, is continuing to improve its environmentally friendly position by reducing greenhouse gas emissions; While numerous legislative and regulatory efforts have targeted emissions, energy efficiency, andrelated environmental concerns in recent years, the structural steel industry has been proactive in pursuing measures of its own that typically exceed regulatory requirements. The results of structural steel industry efforts are evident in recent Environmental Protection Agency findings on greenhouse gasses, which show that the iron and steel industry reduced carbon emissions by 47% between 1990 and 2005 along with the highest overall emissions reduction of any major industry of 67%.

By comparison, initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol would have required U.S. industries to reduce emissions by 5.2% by 2012.