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Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc
I'm not being a smart ass - is there a finite quantity of steel in the world?
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For all practical purposes, the supply of raw materials needed to produce steel is infinite. However, at any given time, our capacity to extract and process those materials is limited by the time and capital investment required to upgrade our production infrastructure. The steel production market is not like, say, electricity - where peaker plants can be switched on quickly to take advantage of price spikes with a more expensive production technique.
We will not run out of steel, but we may very likely exit the business of producing it in the same quantities if anti-dumping and other protections are weakened. How you feel about that is another matter.
EDIT: Bill, your point about secondary inputs is well taken.
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Last edited by jatx; 03-18-2005 at 11:31.
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