The steel industry is a very significant one in the modern world; and as such, monitoring its health through the use of the proper steel indicator can be very important as well. Since its invention and further refining of the processes involved in manufacturing it, steel has gone to number among the most common materials in industrial and other applications. It finds much use in the construction of buildings, most notably skyscrapers and other large infrastructures, in the automobile industry, in machinery, appliances, tools, and so on. These constitute much of our modern society’s expenditures, as we continue to build and improve our bridges, structures, machines, vehicles, and instruments. In fact, historically, the discovery and subsequent honing of the manufacture and application of steel was one of the major forces behind what could be termed the second industrial revolution.

Up to now, the steel industry plays a critical part in overall development, in terms of both physical infrastructure and economic growth. This means that the health or lack thereof of this industry can be taken as more or less indicative of overall economic health. This is of even greater interest in these times – when everyone is looking intensely at the development of global economies. In the wake of the financial crisis that has affected nearly every industry in varying degrees, it has become crucial to be able to accurately gauge the progress of industrial and economic events and institutions.

Now, other candidate industries for being leading economic indicators include the automobile industry. As has been shown by fairly recent events, the big car manufacturers have been experiencing heavy losses, to the extent of requiring fairly big chunks of financial aid from their respective governments. This bailout or economic stimulus packages, as they are known, aim to rescue these firms from the significant repercussions of the crisis. This could be taken to mean that the economy as a whole is still on a downward trajectory, but in fact if we compare with other industries, a slightly different picture might emerge.

This is because we must also consider the historical performance of these different industries, and not just their condition at this particular point in time. That is, for example, the auto industry has been recording losses even before the crisis truly struck, as opposed to the steel industry, which had been experiencing light to moderate growth in previous years. This means that their expected behaviors belong to quite different ranges. While this does not mean that one is a better indicator than the other, it does point towards the fact that both of them should be considered together for a more accurate representation.

Using what may be termed a steel indicator along with indicators from other fields of industry, it will become easier to obtain a relatively good handle on the development of the crisis. This will make it possible to better understand the possible effects and future changes in the economy, and hence make the appropriate adjustments and enact the appropriate preparatory measures.