24th Hatfield Memorial Lecture: Eurosteelresearch

Abstract

The further evolution of Europe as a steel producing region will call for larger production units, yet with sufficient flexibility to adjust to fluctuations, both in raw material supplies and in the market for steel products. The access to bulk supplies of iron ore, reductants and fuels, will dominate the location of the large steelmaking plants which will be augmented by smaller, more flexible units concentrating on the finishing processes and located nearer to the steel user. In the future new sources of indigenous reductants and fuels will increasingly affect the steelmaking pattern and in the long term nuclear energy will reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. The research and development needed for these changes to come about is considerable but if the opportunity is taken jointly to solve some of the major problems, there could be a marked effect upon the long-term viability of Europe's steel industry. This will call for a clear identification of the most effective way to deploy the many research and development skills distributed throughout Europe.