Stefano Colletta
What is certain is that in this new world there is not a single event that sooner or later will not involve the other Countries, too. As a matter of fact, in 2012 owing to the setback of lots of economies, the world one lived a downturn phase and consequently also the performances of the steel industry. But each cloud has a silvery edge. In 2013 in slightly more than one semester, steel scored a production rise corresponding to 2.5%. This was made possible by the Asian continent that achieved these results: +3% in terms of production, one billion of metric tons and + 65% of the world production. And Europe? Owing to the shrinkage of the automotive and construction fields, the European area was affected by the 4.5% drop in terms of produced volumes. The sector outlook remains stable in the short term, even slightly positive with the approximate 3% rise in the next four years. But all will depend on the single market trends, on the criticality and instability factors of some areas. And in all that, how does the Dragon Country influence the world trends? Well, we might answer as follows. It is actually the first economy of our time, it is the first exporting Country with almost 2300 billion dollars in 2013, with a GDP slightly under 8%; first consumer of industrial machines in the world. A Country with a good technological level, willing to grow in its inside and to improve. But it is not a simple Country and it is not saturated in terms of know how. Concerning sectors like high speed, energy, automotive and aeronautics, they will not succeed in being independent. Industries certainly needing high-quality raw materials, to be machined with equivalent experience and competence. Therefore, they will still need the Old Europe on one side and the United States of America on the other side for one decade. Some nations like Japan, Germany, Taiwan, South Korea and USA undertook a course of industrial and commercial rooting in China long time ago. At the bottom of this short list ranks also Italy, the Country of “Bel Canto”, which in this case sings a melody that anyway leads it to be, even if last, among the 6 partner Countries of China. Therefore, let’s always heighten our engineering skills, let’s innovate, let’s always look at nations like China with great respect, but most of all let’s remember that “the best way to invent our future is to create it”.
