There are over 3,500 grades of steel that serve different purposes, from cars and washing machines to construction projects and surgical scalpels. Steel is a major player in construction worldwide, but significant issues will face the industry in the coming years.
Steel stocks are companies that mine and manufacture steel products. The top three steel producing countries in the world are China, India and Japan.
Steel is an alloy made of mostly iron and up to 2% of carbon. It’s mainly used in construction, such as building infrastructure and tools, and household items such as sewing needles and canned foods.
Why invest in steel stocks?
Steel is a trusted and versatile construction material and is beloved for its durability, flexibility and low cost. Steel stocks perform well when the economy is strong.
In the past decade, China has seen explosive growth and maintains a high steel demand. Other large infrastructure projects around the world also up the demand for steel products, leading to higher profits and returns. And as the economy flourishes, the need for new buildings and construction continues to fuel the steel industry.
What stocks are in the steel sector?
Steel stocks include companies that manufacture metal products as well as those that produce and recycle steel.
Select a company to learn more about what they do and how their stock performs, including market capitalization, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio and dividend yield. While this list includes a selection of the most well-known and popular stocks, it doesn't include every stock available.
Company summary
Rio Tinto Group engages in finding, mining, and processing mineral resources worldwide. The company offers aluminum, silver, molybdenum, copper, diamonds, gold, borates, titanium dioxide, salt, iron ore, and uranium. It is also involved in the alumina production; primary aluminum smelting; bauxite mining; alumina refining; and ilmenite, rutile, and zircon mining, as well as provision of gypsum. Rio Tinto Group was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.
Vale S.A., together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells iron ore and iron ore pellets for use as raw materials in steelmaking in Brazil and internationally. The company operates through Ferrous Minerals, Base Metals, and Coal segments. The Ferrous Minerals segment produces and extracts iron ore and pellets, manganese, ferroalloys, and other ferrous products; and provides related logistic services. The Base Metals segment produces and extracts nickel and its by-products, such as copper, gold, silver, cobalt, precious metals, and others. The Coal segment is involved in the extraction of metallurgical and thermal coal; and provides related logistic services. It also offers platinum group metals. The company was formerly known as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and changed its name to Vale S.A. in May 2009. Vale S.A. was founded in 1942 and is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. operates as a metals service center company. The company provides alloy, aluminum, brass, copper, carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium, and specialty steel products and processing services to general manufacturing, non-residential construction, transportation, aerospace and defense, energy, electronics and semiconductor fabrication, and heavy industries. It also offers precision sheet metal fabrication services, including laser cutting, stamping, turret punching, machining, and powder coating and welding; and toll processing and logistics services. In addition, the company manufactures metal parts that have applications in various end markets, including industrial machinery, automotive, aerospace, sugar products, and consumer electronics manufacturers. As of December 31, 2019, it operated approximately 300 metals service center processing and distribution facilities in 40 states in the United States and 13 in other countries. The company sells its products directly to large original equipment manufacturers, and small machine shops and fabricators, as well as through www.fastmetals.com, an e-commerce platform. It operates in the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, France, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. It operates through three segments: North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular). The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets and tin mill products, as well as all iron ore and coke. This segment serves customers in the service center, conversion, automotive, construction, container, and appliance and electrical markets. The USSE segment provides slabs, strip mill plate, sheet, tin mill products, and spiral welded pipes, as well as refractory ceramic materials. This segment serves customers in the construction, container, appliance and electrical, service center, conversion, oil, gas, and petrochemical markets. The Tubular segment offers seamless and electric resistance welded steel casing and tubing products; and standard and line pipe and mechanical tubing products primarily to customers in the oil, gas, and petrochemical markets. The company also provides railroad services and real estate operations. United States Steel Corporation was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Commercial Metals Company manufactures, recycles, and fabricates steel and metal products, and related materials and services in the United States, Poland, China, Germany, and internationally. The company processes and sells ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals to steel mills and foundries, aluminum sheet and ingot manufacturers, brass and bronze ingot makers, copper refineries and mills, secondary lead smelters, specialty steel mills, high temperature alloy manufacturers, and other consumers. It also manufactures and sells finished long steel products, including rebar, merchant bar, light structural, and other special sections, as well as semi-finished billets for re-rolling and forging applications. In addition, the company provides fabricated steel products used to reinforce concrete primarily in the construction of commercial and non-commercial buildings, hospitals, convention centers, industrial plants, power plants, highways, bridges, arenas, stadiums, and dams; sells and rents construction-related products and equipment to concrete installers and other businesses; and manufactures and sells strength bars for the truck trailer industry, special bar steels for the energy market, and armor plates for military vehicles. Further, it manufactures rebars, merchant bars, and wire rods; and sells fabricated rebars, wire meshes, fabricated meshes, assembled rebar cages, and other fabricated rebar by-products to fabricators, manufacturers, distributors, and construction companies. The company was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.
Gerdau S.A. provides steel products and services in the United States and Canada. It operates through four segments: Brazil Operations, North America Operations, South America Operations, and Special Steel Operations. The company offers semi-finished products, including billets, blooms, and slabs; common long rolled products, such as rebars, wire rods, merchant bars, light shapes, and profiles to construction and manufacturing industries; and drawn products comprises barbed and barbless fence wires, galvanized wires, fences, concrete reinforcing wire meshes, nails, and clamps. It also produces special steel products used in auto parts, light and heavy vehicles, and agricultural machinery, as well as the oil and gas, wind energy, machinery and equipment, mining and rail, and others markets. In addition, the company offers flat products, including hot rolled coils and heavy plates; and resells flat steel products, as well as mines and produces iron ore. It sells its products through independent distributors, direct sales from the mills, and its retail network. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Gerdau S.A. is a subsidiary of Metalúrgica Gerdau S.A.
Worthington Industries, Inc., a metals manufacturing company, focuses on value-added steel processing and manufactured metal products in the United States, Austria, Canada, Mexico, Poland, and Portugal. It operates through two segments, Steel Processing and Pressure Cylinders. The Steel Processing segment processes flat-rolled steel for customers primarily in the automotive, aerospace, agricultural, appliance, construction, container, hardware, heavy-truck, HVAC, lawn and garden, leisure and recreation, office furniture, and office equipment markets. It also toll processes steel for steel mills, large end-users, service centers, and other processors. The Pressure Cylinders segment manufactures and sells filled and unfilled pressure cylinders, tanks, hand torches, well water and expansion tanks, and oil and gas equipment, as well as various accessories and related products for end-use market applications, including industrial products, consumer products, and oil and gas equipment. The company was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.
Steel Dynamics, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a steel producer and metal recycler in the United States. It operates through three segments: Steel Operations, Metals Recycling Operations, and Steel Fabrication Operations. The Steel Operations segment offers hot roll, cold roll, and coated steel products; structural steel beams, pilings, and standard and premium grade rail products; engineered special-bar-quality products; and merchant-bar-quality products, including rounds, angles, flats, reinforcing bars, and channels and specialty steel sections. This segment is also involved in the turning, polishing, straightening, chamfering, threading, precision saw-cutting, cold drawing, and heat treating of bar products; and cutting to length, straightening, hole punching, shot blasting, welding, and coating of beams, channels, and specialty steel sections. Its products are used in construction, automotive, manufacturing, transportation, heavy and agriculture equipment, and pipe and tube industry sectors. This segment sells its products directly to end-users, steel fabricators, and service centers. The Metals Recycling Operations segment engages in the purchase, process, and resale of ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals into reusable forms and grades. Its ferrous products include heavy melting steel, busheling, bundled scrap, shredded scrap, steel turnings, and cast iron products; and nonferrous products comprise aluminum, brass, copper, stainless steel, and other nonferrous metals. This segment also provides transportation logistics, marketing, brokerage, and scrap management services. The Steel Fabrication Operations segment produces steel building components comprising steel joists, girders, trusses, and steel deck products for non-residential steel fabricators. The company also exports its products. Steel Dynamics, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Olympic Steel, Inc. processes and distributes metal products in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The Carbon Flat Products segment sells and distributes processed carbon and coated flat-rolled sheets, coil and plate products, and fabricated parts. The Specialty Metals Flat Products segment sells and distributes processed aluminum and stainless flat-rolled sheets and coil products, flat bar products, and fabricated parts. The Tubular and Pipe Products segment distributes metal tubing products, pipes, bars, valves and fittings, and fabricated pressure parts. The company also provides various processing services comprising cutting-to-length, slitting, flattening, sawing and shearing, and value-added processing of blanking, tempering, plate burning, laser cutting, precision machining, welding, fabricating, bending, beveling, polishing, kitting, and painting to process metals to specified lengths, widths, and shapes. It serves metal consuming industries, such as manufacturers and fabricators of transportation and material handling lift equipment, construction, mining and farm equipment, storage tanks, environmental and energy generation equipment, automobiles, food service and electrical equipment, and military vehicles and equipment, as well as general and plate fabricators, and metals service centers through direct sales force. Olympic Steel, Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Bedford Heights, Ohio.
A steel exchange-traded fund (ETF) holds securities that are connected to the steel industry. The only ETF that tracks steel is VanEck Vectors Steel ETF (SLX).
Risks of investing in steel
While steel currently plays a major part in our daily lives, there are specific risks involved in investing in steel and its uncertain future:
Fewer large steel mills. The costly investment and environmental concerns — which prompted government policies like the 1970 Clean Air Act — have suppressed the construction of new steel plants.
Steel alternatives. New building materials are gaining traction in new construction projects. For example, engineered timber is sustainable, a quicker, cleaner building material, and just as strong as steel.
Recycled steel. You can recycle steel continuously without compromising its strength. The greater availability of recycled steel can reduce the prices of steel stocks, potentially eliminating the need for steel production in the next 30 years.
Tariffs. Trade wars and tariffs can negatively affect steel stock prices. For example, the 2018 US tariffs against China imports, which were first imposed on steel and aluminum, are estimated to have cost US companies at least $1.7 trillion in stock prices.
How to buy steel stocks
If steel stocks are right for you, here’s a breakdown of how to get started.
1. Research stocks
Before you invest in steel stocks, evaluate the companies that produce steel or use it to make products. Examine their financial statements. Take a close look at their assets, liabilities, shareholder equity and other metrics found on their balance sheet. You can usually find this on the investor relations section of a company’s website.
You also may want to check whether the company has announced any plans to deal with present challenges such as production issues or dealing with potential trade tariffs. In addition, you can also look to see how a company sizes up against its competitors. By closely examining these companies, you can get a good sense of what may be a good investment.
2. Open a brokerage account
Before you begin making trades, you need to open a brokerage account. You can choose from plenty of online brokerage accounts, but they can differ vastly in terms of fees and tools. So make sure you compare your options.
If you’re new to investing, consider investment apps for beginners like Robinhood or SoFi. If you’re an experienced investor check out brokerages like TD Ameritrade or Vanguard which offer sophisticated research and analytical tools.
3. Purchase Stocks
Once you’ve opened and funded your brokerage account, you can begin buying stocks. Simply look up a stock by company name or ticker symbol. Then, decide the number of shares you want to buy and place your order.
Market projections for steel stocks
Global steel production volume is expected to rise to 2175 million tonnes by 2024, according to Research and Markets. Throughout this course, the industry is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.50%
This growth is expected to be driven by factors such as the expansion of urban populations and increased spending on construction and infrastructure projects. China is expected to remain the largest producer of steel, partly driven by a boost in the production of automobiles and electrical appliances. However, price volatility could be a major challenge to steel stock investing in the coming years.
Compare trading platforms
You’ll need a brokerage account to invest in steel. Take a look at a few options below:
*Signup bonus information updated weekly.
Disclaimer: The value of any investment can go up or down depending on news, trends and market conditions. We are not investment advisers, so do your own due diligence to understand the risks before you invest.
Bottom line
The steel industry is a staple in the world’s industrial economy. Steel stocks can be profitable when the economy is booming, but keep your eye on how tariffs and developments in the steel industry affect stock prices.
Yes and no. Steel production contributes to environmental pollution because it emits byproducts, including CO2 and dust, and requires a lot of energy. But it might be considered eco-friendly because it’s durable and recyclable.
ArcelorMittal (MT) produced the most crude steel in 2019.
Kimberly Ellis is a writer at Finder. She hails from New York City with a BA from Queens College and a New York State teaching certificate. After teaching in both public and private schools, Kimberly decided to take the world by storm and dive into the media industry — where she covers everything from home loans and investing to K–12 education and shopping. She’s also an aspiring polyglot, always in a book and forever on the hunt for the perfect classic red lipstick.
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