Steel crisis

The steel crisis had a significant impact on several industrial regions, including the Rust Belt in North America, the English Midlands in the United Kingdom, the Ruhr area in West Germany, and Bergslagen in Sweden.

The federal government responded with multiple measures in an attempt to protect the steel industry, including import quotas from 1969 to 1973, trigger pricing from 1978 to 1980, and voluntary export restraints from 1983 to 1987.

Historian Alasdair Blair states that British Steel Corporation (BSC) had "serious problems" including complacency with existing obsolescent plants (plants operating under capacity and thus at low efficiency); outdated technology; price controls that reduced marketing flexibility; soaring coal and oil costs; lack of capital investment funds; and increasing competition on the world market.

[9] Many major steel producing countries and regions in Europe, such as Luxembourg, the Ruhr area in Germany, southwestern Sweden, Belgium, Italy's Industrial Triangle and the far south, and northern France also suffered immensely during the 1970s and 1980s.

The causes of the declines in these countries were similar to the United Kingdom's: foreign competition (primarily against each other), overcapacity resulting from construction of mills during the post-war boom and integration of markets, and productivity gains.

The end of the post-World War II boom also played a role as markets matured and became saturated and demand for steel peaked in construction, appliance makers, and auto manufacturing.