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PENSION PROTECTION
PENSION PLANS PENSION FACTS SERVICES |
China is currently the largest producer of steel in the world. Steel is currently the most recycled material in the world, the industry estimates that of new metal produced each year some 42.3% is recycled material. All steel that is available is currently recycled, the long service life of steel in applications such as construction means that there is a vast 'store' of steel in use that is recycled as it becomes available. But new metal derived from raw materials is also necessary to make up demand. The steel industry provides about 5% of the total U.S. manufacturing GDP. The industry has undergone a major transformation since its recession of the late 1980s, investing in new process and product technologies and closing older mills. Today’s steel industry is technologically sophisticated, employing more than 150,000 American production workers in jobs paying about 50% above the average for all U.S. manufacturing [AISI and SMA 1998]. The industry creates an additional 50,000 jobs for downstream processing. The steel industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars annually on R&D. Over the last 20 years, the industry has invested nearly $7 billion in environmental control equipment.
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