Steel Industry Podcasts | SteelOnTheNet
Dr Andrzej M Kotas 13 episodes Nov 4, 2026
This podcast provides expert analysis and strategic intelligence on the global steel industry. Episodes examine decarbonisation, market trends and policy impacts affecting steel producers and executives. It is aimed at professionals seeking concise insight into the forces shaping the steel sector worldwide.
Episodes
Episode 13: The Cost-Price Squeeze – Why Steel Gets Cheaper Every Year
[SteelOnTheNet] A business plan that holds steel prices flat for 20 years is not conservative – it is optimistic. Dr Kotas explains the cost-price squeeze: why steel gets cheaper to make every year, where the savings come from, why steel technology changes by evolution, not revolution, how big the squeeze is and four practical consequences for planners, feasibility studies and analysts. 21-m
Episode 12: Buying a Steel Mill – Red Flags in Due Diligence
[SteelOnTheNet] A steel mill can look profitable on paper and still need tens of millions in unplanned spending within two years of changing hands. Dr Kotas sets out six red flags in steel due diligence – demonstrated capacity, deferred maintenance, optimistic cost assumptions, trader sales near variable cost, legacy environmental liabilities and supply contracts – each with a practica
Episode 11: Why Steel Mills Don't Close – What Finally Closes Them
[SteelOnTheNet] Why do loss-making steel mills stay open? Because closing costs more than continuing: operating defers pensions, redundancy, decommissioning, remediation and take-or-pay commitments, while exit crystallises all of them at once. Dr Kotas sets out three reasons mills stay open and the five triggers that actually force closure, drawing on Redcar, Port Talbot, Scunthorpe, Granite City,
Episode 10: Busting Some Big Steel Myths – Three Industry Fallacies
[SteelOnTheNet] Three persistent steel industry myths, examined and debunked: that steel in general is a strategic material, that developing economies need their own steel industry to industrialise and that G7 countries need to preserve virgin, iron-ore-based steelmaking. Dr Kotas draws on current examples including British Steel's 2026 nationalisation, Sheffield Forgemasters, Nigeria's Ajaokuta S
Episode 9: The Feasibility Study Trap – Why Steel Projects Fail
[SteelOnTheNet] Why do so many steel projects fail before they start? Dr Kotas examines seven classic failure modes in steel feasibility studies – from demand overestimation and logistics blindspots to technology misjudgement, CAPEX underestimation, cost competitiveness, optimism bias and governance weakness. 25-minute episode with Dr Andrzej M Kotas.
Topics: Investment Appraisal | Project Managem
Episode 8: China's Steel Flood – Overcapacity, Bankruptcies and Promises
[SteelOnTheNet] China exported a record 131 million tonnes of steel in 2025 – more than the entire EU produces annually. Global excess capacity reached 640 million tonnes and keeps rising. Dr Kotas examines the property market collapse, the wave of mill bankruptcies and why Beijing's capacity pledges are undermined by provincial governments. Conclusion: Chinese overcapacity is structural, not cycl
Episode 7: Capacity Utilisation – The Steel Industry's Most Powerful Predictive Metric
[SteelOnTheNet] One number predicted every major steel crisis of the last fifty years – before it arrived. Dr Kotas explains why published capacity utilisation figures are frequently misleading, why BOF and EAF operations face fundamentally different danger thresholds and how investors, companies and governments should use the metric correctly.
Topics: Overcapacity | Plant Performance | Blast Furn
Episode 6: Understanding Steel Mill Yield Losses – From Hidden Costs to Profit Recovery
[SteelOnTheNet] Yield losses quietly drain millions from bar mill profitability every year. Covers crop losses, cobbles, scale formation, batch size optimisation and furnace atmosphere control. A 2% yield improvement on a 500,000-tonne mill generates €4–7m additional profit annually. 19-minute episode with Dr Andrzej M Kotas.
Topics: Plant Performance | Casting & Rolling | Technology
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Episode 5: Steel Industry Investment Disasters – When Big Bets Go Wrong
[SteelOnTheNet] Four of the most instructive investment disasters in global steel history: Ajaokuta Nigeria, Al Tuwairqi DRI Pakistan, Hunterston Scotland and Perwaja Malaysia. Six hard lessons for investors and project finance professionals. 19-minute episode with Dr Andrzej M Kotas.
Topics: Industrial Policy | Africa | Asia | India
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Episode 4: Best Available Techniques – Your Roadmap to Efficiency and Profit
[SteelOnTheNet] Discover how EU Best Available Techniques provide proven pathways to cut costs and reduce emissions. Covers scrap preheating deep-dive example and BAT implementation. 17-minute episode with Dr Andrzej M Kotas.
Topics: Plant Performance | Decarbonisation | Technology | Europe
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Episode 3: Hidden Value in EAF By-Products – Turning Waste into Profit
[SteelOnTheNet] Discover how EAF operators can turn dust, slag and waste heat into significant profit centres. Covers zinc recovery, scrap preheating, slag monetisation and energy optimisation. 20-minute episode with Dr Andrzej M Kotas.
Topics: Plant Performance | Electric Arc Furnace | Scrap & Recycling
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Episode 2: Profit Improvement Programmes in the Steel Industry
[SteelOnTheNet] Strategic framework for improving steel company profitability through production asset optimisation, revenue enhancement and cost reduction. 20-minute episode with Dr Andrzej M Kotas.
Topics: Plant Performance | Industrial Policy
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Episode 1: Steel Scrap Supply – Strategic Implications for Decarbonisation
[SteelOnTheNet] Expert analysis of steel scrap supply challenges as the industry transitions to EAF production. Covers BOF vs EAF economics, global trade flows and strategic responses. 23-minute episode with Dr Andrzej M Kotas.
Topics: Scrap & Recycling | Decarbonisation | Electric Arc Furnace | Global
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