Just about everything – from the roof over your head to the device you’re reading this on – contains steel. It is one of the most commonly used materials in the world and has been for quite some time.

World crude steel production added up to about 1.662 billion tons in 2014, based on the 2014 World Crude Steel Production Performances reported by the World Steel Association (worldsteel). Yet despite these numbers, the outlook for the steel industry suggests slow growth for global steel demand, which is mostly a result of the deceleration in China and structural adjustments in most world economies.

Nevertheless, The World Steel Association’s Short Range Outlook (SRO) for 2015 and 2016 notes that even though the growth is expected to be slow, demand is still growing. They forecast that the apparent steel growth will increase by 0.5% in 2015 and 1.4% in 2016. Additionally, in developing and emerging nations, there is an increased optimism for growth, as the steel markets are beginning to exhibit the characteristics of mature markets.

For more information on The World Steel Association’s expected outcomes for 2015 and 2016, click here.

So, which countries claim the spots of the world’s top steel producers for now? Read on to find out and to learn some interesting steel-related facts about each.

5. South Korea

Crude Steel Production: 71 million tons

Interesting Fact:

Rising 270 meters above sea level, The Yi Sun-shin Bridge was opened in 2012 and links the cities of Gwangyang and Yeosu. It is the first suspension bridge to be made solely with Korean state-of-the-art technology and equipment, including 26,000 tons of steel rods and 24,000 tons of steel products. Extending 2,260 meters, it is the longest in Korea and the fourth longest in the world, surpassing even the Golden Gate Bridge. (Source: http://bit.ly/1crFdzx)

4. India

Crude Steel Production: 83.2 million tons

Interesting Fact:

The Lotus Temple, a Bahá’í House of Worship, is one of Delhi’s most iconic architectural feats and was designed in the form of a lotus flower to symbolize the religion’s cornerstones of purity and simplicity. The lotus has three sets of leaves or petals which are made out of thin concrete shells. At the top, a glass and steel roof provides protection from the elements and facilitates the entry of natural light. The temple also utilizes a number of steel reinforcements and structural steel staging. (Source: http://bit.ly/1zWQCTh)

3. United States

Crude Steel Production: 88.3 million tons

Interesting Fact:

In 1943, more than 1 billion pennies were made with steel because the United States was, at the time, engaged in World War II and copper was being rationed to make artillery. Steel pennies weigh 2.70 grams and are fairly lighter than traditional copper Lincoln pennies that weigh 3.11 grams. Today, these pennies are quite popular among coin collectors and are worth about 25-75 cents each. (Source: http://bit.ly/1cooLjx)

2. Japan

Crude Steel Production: 110.7 million tons

Interesting Fact:

Tokyo Tower, a communications and observation tower in Japan’s capital city, was built in 1958. It was constructed of steel, a third of which was scrap metal taken from 90 US tanks damaged in the Korean War. At 4,000 tons, it is significantly lighter than the Eiffel Tower, which weighs 7,000 tons, a result of exceptional advances in construction technology and steel manufacturing. (Source: http://bit.ly/1K3tHbS)

1. China

Crude Steel Production: 822.7 million tons

Interesting Fact:

The Chinese were the first people to combine carbon and iron to make steel. They’ve been making it since the first century BC in blast furnaces powered by the Asian monsoon winds. In recent years, they’ve become the world’s largest producer of steel, and consume twice as much steel as the US, Europe and Japan combined. (Source: http://bit.ly/1KzAKpG)

Production rates according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) 2014 World Crude Steel Production Performances.

Cable Cars Gripped on Underground Steel Cables
San Francisco is a city with exceptional quantities of steep hills, which are not relatively common in other cities in the U.S. In the early 1900s, when automobiles were not common, pedestrian roads, bicycles, and horse carriages were everything on the street. As the city expanded, increasing number of buildings had to position over the hills while the distance for horse carriages also extended further. In fact, on rainy days, some horses slipped and sometimes died from terrible leg injuries. Such limitations in transportation stagnated quantitative development of the city.

In 1869, Andrew Hallidie witnessed the situation and proposed a cable car that grips on steel cables that are installed on the street. The first line of the cable railway started its construction in 1873 and started operating 3 years later. The operation power at the time was a steam engine, which now have changed to electricity.

There are three tracks on the cable car railway; two tracks on each sides are for cable car wheels and one in the center is for the steel cable. This central track has a space underneath that makes the steel cables flow restlessly in the speed of 15km per hour while making a clamorous sound. Interestingly, the steel cable consists of small steel wires twisted together. To be specific, 19 steel wires of 2.5mm- diameter form one medium size bundle. And six of those medium size bundle make one large steel cable of 3.2cm-diameter. The wires are twisted in a spiral to maximize cohesion among them. Also, to protect the wires and cables from friction with surrounding materials, they are greased amply. These cables are changed every 6 to 8 months.

The cable car system has been running for the past 140 years. Though the power source has been changed from steam engine to electricity, the cable cars – packed with people and luggage – are always traveling throughout the city while providing convenience and extending the city. In fact, the cable cars which allow people to indulge in a vivid and romantic scenery, have been made from a tiny steel wire of 2.5mm-diameter.

Golden Gate Bridge, the Turning Point

In 1929, the world economy faced the Great Depression. Especially, the Golden Gate strait separating the city of San Francisco and Sausalito, restricted nearby cities to interact, leading to limit balanced and holistic development of the cities. Therefore, the general public suggested to create a fundamental frame of city development, resulting in construction of the Gold Gate Bridge – a 2.7km-long suspension bridge between the city of San Francisco and Sausalito.

However, circumstances were not idealistic. The bridge construction had to manage the deep sea level of the San Francisco Bay and the bridge deck had to be installed high enough for large ships to pass through. On top of its notorious reputation for its thick fogs and fierce current, the location is a strategically important location for military purposes, which does not allow any possibility of blockade of straits due to possible collisions in the area.

The suspension bridge system was the final proposal chosen to satisfy the tough conditions. Rather than requiring to place a bridge post in the center, the suspension bridge has bridge post on each end, and the bridge deck hangs perpendicularly on the cable placed on each bridge post. Therefore, its structural functions were maximized by minimizing the thickness and ultimately provided enough height for shipments to travel through.

However, the problem was about building the main cable and the bridge deck with the level of technology and given conditions at the time. In order for the main cable to sustain the weight of the bridge deck, pedestrians and vehicles, a large sized steel of which cross section is 92 cm in diameter was needed. At that time, it was impossible to transport a colossal steel structure of the corresponding size. As a result, it was proposed to use a thin steel wire – slightly thicker than a strand of hair – to make transportable bundles and repeatedly crisscrossed them in between the main posts.

Accordingly, 452 steel wires that are 5.2mm in diameter, were twisted as one bundle, which is 11cm in diameter. These palm-sized bundles are crisscrossed between the two main posts to make even bigger bundles. 61 of these bundles make the upper cable structure which is 92cm in diameter. For the final process, these bundles are knotted regularly and a corrosion-proof steel cover tops the bundles. In total, there were 27,572 wires used. Since a single cable requires 128,748 km length of wires, the total length of the wires used for two cables can presumably rotate the earth 6.5 times. The highest point of the post is about 227m from the water level and is about 67m from seawater.

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, another Symbol of San Francisco

A year before the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was built in 1936. While the Golden Gate Bridge opened a route to Sausalito in the North, the Bay Bridge also led San Francisco to grow as a giant metropolitan area by connecting the city with industrially developed Oakland city in the East.

The total length of the Bay Bridge is 13.5km long and is divided into eastern and western by Yerba Buena Island in the middle. Constructed by C. H. Purcell in 1936, the Bay Bridge, is about five times longer than the Golden Gate Bridge. This bridge has a double-decked structure, of which the lower deck used to be for trains, and now both decks are used as one-way roads for automobiles. The bridge decks are 150m above water level, allowing ships to travel through flexibly. The Bay Bridge was built with Cantilever method, which used a mobile work vehicle rather than a connected pan of the deck. This method is known for its economic efficiency in valleys, rivers, oceans, and areas with high traffic. The Bay Bridge now has more than 250,000 vehicles passing through every day.

San Francisco has everything that a modern city requires. Today, San Francisco has grown into a city that is powerful enough to influence the world economy. It maybe, the hair-thin steel wires that enabled this city to achieve such developments in quality along with its miraculously beautiful scenery.

Lee, Young-joo = A specialist in international cities and architectural design at POSCO A&C Design Center. Participated in new city and architectural design projects in Vietnam, Myanmar, Canada, Australia, and other international cities. She is very interested in the uncovered history and stories behind cities and architecture.

What’s POSTIM?
POSTIM is an innovative model developed by POSCO and applied in August 2014 to achieve the corporate vision of `POSCO the Great’. At the event, participants looked back on the efforts and traces of POSCO Family to implement `POSCO the Great`, and shared the progress results and best practices from POSTIM, which spans PWS (PJT-based Working System), QSS+ (Quick Six Sigma plus), and SWP (Smart Work Place). In addition, through the `Contest for an Excellent Project Idea`, they shared creative ideas from the shop-floor that can contribute to improving profitability, with a special awards ceremony to recognize the most promising ideas.

PWS (PJT-based Working System)
Many global companies such as Google, GE, 3M and more, are practicing various projects as they consider projects to be the key to efficiency. Through ‘Innovation POSCO 1.0’, POSCO has drawn a number of lucrative projects in each corresponding sector of production, sales, research, finance, new business and management support. By creating exclusive teams and members for projects, POSCO provided an optimal circumstance where project participants could concentrate on their tasks.

QSS+ (Quick Six Sigma plus) 
Ever since its completion in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco carries a hundred thousand cars every day without facing any problem. Such durability is achieved by annual maintenance activities and recovery with adequate investments.

With 24-hour operating facilities older than two decades, POSCO also requires consistent management and investment in order to maintain its competitive edges. Accordingly, POSCO developed QSS+, innovative activities compatible for steel mills and has been strengthening its facilities in pursuance of a safe working environment. As POSCO deploys customized innovative activities by upgrading its core facilities, QSS+ plans are expanding with a plant manager’s lead. As QSS+ plans are settled, plants go through a major reconstruction or plan an independent activity that is appropriate to each department’s characteristic.

SWP (Smart Work Place)
From winning the 2014 UEFA Championship and 2014 World cup championship, Germany’s football teams are leading the paths of the world football. Behind such achievements, there were IT infrastructure and leadership that created positive atmosphere to the players.

Meanwhile, POSCO also embodies SWP (Smart Work Place) that promotes employees’ involvements through convenient IT infrastructure, advanced working method, and sharing gratitude. With the spread of mobile reporting system, working process has been expedited and video conference allowed meetings without limitations to time and space. Moreover, employees are using smart notes to immediately respond to client’s request and inconveniences on site. Improvements in reporting system extended task immersion and simplification in HR, training and innovation system also boosted employees’ focus on their accounts.

IP Festival 2014 Event Sketch
At the ‘IP Festival 2014’, executives and employees shared the outcomes and best practices from POSTIM. Groups and individuals who have displayed outstanding performance throughout the year were awarded at the event.

• Groups and individuals who had excellent project performance received awards

• Best cases of projects were introduced at the event

Let’s see what other interesting activities were shared at the IP Festival 2014!

• Employees are participating in a performance that they prepared during the break times

• Employees engaged in performances that induced participation in between each session

Here are POSCO’s top picks for you to visit.

1)      Eiffel Tower in Paris

 Image Source: flickr

How about a trip to the romantic city of lights to see the Eiffel Tower? At 324 meters, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest architectural structure in 1930 until the Chrysler building was completed. The full metal structure of the Eiffel Tower weighs about 8,000 tons and including non-metal materials, weighs 10,000 tons. While the Eiffel Tower today is emblematic of the ‘city of love’, this was not always the case. When it was first built, media was filled with criticism about the metal appearance that seemed to ruin the city. Famous author, Maupaussant famously said, “I eat lunch in the restaurant within the Eiffel Tower since it is the only place within the city where you don’t have to see the steel object.” Oh, how things have changed!

2)      Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

Image source: flickr

If Paris has its Eiffel Tower, San Francisco in the U.S. has its Golden Gate Bridge, the longest bridge in the world until 1959.  The 2,879m long bridge was built in 1937 to connect San Francisco with Marine Country in the north and it takes 3 minutes by car and 1 hour if you walk! At the time, many doubted that a structure as long as 2,879m could be constructed while withstanding the wind, fog and fast waters. However, the impossible was possible and the Golden Gate Bridge is symbolic of San Francisco and the entire State today. The official architect for this bridge was Joseph Strauss and the base structure was created using iron, steel truss structure and steel cables. At the time of construction, the Navy requested that the bridge be built in such a way that ships could pass through below. Therefore a 66m high arch was created and to this day, there is no ship that cannot pass under.

Who would like to cross this bridge in this summer?

3)      Burj in Dubai

Image source: flickr

How about a trip to Dubai to see the world’s tallest man-made structure? A collection of all modern day innovations and tricks, the Burj in Dubai is truly a feast for the eyes. At 828m high with 162 floors, it is currently the world’s tallest skyscraper. In addition to its record height, the building itself was constructed beautifully. What is the secret behind this innovative, stunning architecture? The advanced architectural design was made possible due to the TMCP (thermo-mechanical control process) steel that has greater strength and durability, as well as, improved weldability. It is also efficient in that TMCP steels reduce construction time compared to concrete structures and also requires less manpower which helps reduce costs.

Who knew that all these world famous sights were made of steel? These places are definitely worth a trip during this summer or during your lifetime. Share your favorite architectural wonder with us!