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> America has a few key industries where we have the lead, America has much less key industries than China has. Any discussions about microchips are silly when

> America has a few key industries where we have the lead, America has much less key industries than China has. Any discussions about microchips are silly when much bigger elephants in the room are not talked about. https://www.steel.org/2021/07/steel-imports-up-18-5-year-to-date-through-june/ https://www.steel.org/2021/07/steel-imports-up-18-5-year-to-... America is dangerously dependent on imported steel — all at the same time while having the best iron ore deposits, and coke deposits, and cheap energy. Now, prepare for a total despair if you haven't seen this graph before: https://thephillypi.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/1622778727_872_US-Crude-Steel-Production-Plunged-Global-Production-Stalled-But.png https://thephillypi.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/162277872... The situation across dozens more key industries is equally dire.

echelon 5y ago
Can you enumerate other key industries? Is there any way we can build them domestically again?
- baybal2 5y ago
  1. Aluminium https://www.ftmmachinery.com/uploads/image/20200526105639_67325.jpg https://www.ftmmachinery.com/uploads/image/20200526105639_67... 2. Nickel 3. Fertiliser https://static.nationmaster.com/assets/1ccceff/charts/ranking/23c5d58f504853595290f056ce68f3e4_1200x628.png https://static.nationmaster.com/assets/1ccceff/charts/rankin... 4. Non-ferrous alloys 5. Machinery parts, especially consumables like things (i.e. electrodes) 6. Powerplant machinery 7. Electrical distribution equipment, especially transformers 8. Merchant marine (even tiny Greece is ahead of US) 9. Shipbuilding, and naval engineering at large 10. Railways equipment, and vehicles 11. Pharma, with medical consumables, antibiotics, and other essential medicines in particular 12. Heavy industry in general 13. Chromium 14. Manganese 15. Vanadium 16. Chemical catalysts 17. Cobalt
nostrademons 5y ago
> America is dangerously dependent on imported steel — all at the same time while having the best iron ore deposits, and coke deposits, and cheap energy. 93% of North American steel produced each year is from recycled products [1], and 98% of products are recycled [2]. There is no reason to use either iron ore or coke for steel production when the vast majority of it is produced in electric arc furnaces from scrap steel. It's better economically and better environmentally. This is also why Nucor has been eating U.S. Steel's lunch for about 50 years, long before China entered the steelmaking business. [1] https://cssbi.ca/mid-rise-construction/sustainable-steel https://cssbi.ca/mid-rise-construction/sustainable-steel [2] https://www.aisc.org/why-steel/sustainability/ https://www.aisc.org/why-steel/sustainability/
- baybal2 5y ago
  Even Nucor is being very much steamrolled by imports. Efficiencies of scale achieved by megamills cannot be achieved by small in-situ smelters, simple economics

echelon 5y ago

Can you enumerate other key industries? Is there any way we can build them domestically again?

baybal2 5y ago
1. Aluminium https://www.ftmmachinery.com/uploads/image/20200526105639_67325.jpg https://www.ftmmachinery.com/uploads/image/20200526105639_67... 2. Nickel 3. Fertiliser https://static.nationmaster.com/assets/1ccceff/charts/ranking/23c5d58f504853595290f056ce68f3e4_1200x628.png https://static.nationmaster.com/assets/1ccceff/charts/rankin... 4. Non-ferrous alloys 5. Machinery parts, especially consumables like things (i.e. electrodes) 6. Powerplant machinery 7. Electrical distribution equipment, especially transformers 8. Merchant marine (even tiny Greece is ahead of US) 9. Shipbuilding, and naval engineering at large 10. Railways equipment, and vehicles 11. Pharma, with medical consumables, antibiotics, and other essential medicines in particular 12. Heavy industry in general 13. Chromium 14. Manganese 15. Vanadium 16. Chemical catalysts 17. Cobalt

nostrademons 5y ago

> America is dangerously dependent on imported steel — all at the same time while having the best iron ore deposits, and coke deposits, and cheap energy. 93% of North American steel produced each year is from recycled products [1], and 98% of products are recycled [2]. There is no reason to use either iron ore or coke for steel production when the vast majority of it is produced in electric arc furnaces from scrap steel. It's better economically and better environmentally. This is also why Nucor has been eating U.S. Steel's lunch for about 50 years, long before China entered the steelmaking business. [1] https://cssbi.ca/mid-rise-construction/sustainable-steel https://cssbi.ca/mid-rise-construction/sustainable-steel [2] https://www.aisc.org/why-steel/sustainability/ https://www.aisc.org/why-steel/sustainability/

baybal2 5y ago
Even Nucor is being very much steamrolled by imports. Efficiencies of scale achieved by megamills cannot be achieved by small in-situ smelters, simple economics