Opening the Can Wars? Steel Industry Reconsiders Steel Cans

摘要

Strategies for improving steel's position in the beverage can market were a high priority at the 30th Annual Conference of the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) on September 29-October 2 in Helsinki, Finland. A panel discussion featuring speakers from Rasselstein Hoesch GmbH, Sollac, Nipp on Steel, and the U.S. Steel Recycling Institute was held on recapturing the market. Of the 190 billion metal beverage cans sold worldwide every year, only 16 percent (30 billion cans) are made of steel; in the world's biggest market-the United States-steel has practically disappeared, according to Jost A. Massenberg of Rasselstein Hoesch GmbH. In Europe, however, steel cans hold an average of 50 percent of the market, while in Germany, France, Netherlands, and Belgium, the market share has remained between 75 percent and 100 percent.