Has the age of “peak steel” – in which world steel annual output and demand reaches a plateau at about its current level of 1.5bn-1.6bn tonnes – finally arrived? A growing number of industry observers are edging towards answering “yes” to this question, with the implications of what this means unsettling for many in the sector.

If the world can no longer rely on the kind of hefty year-on-year increases in steel demand that it has grown used to – albeit with a sharp break linked to the 2008-9 financial crisis – then the plans by the steel industry for how it organises its activities will need to be dramatically altered.

Rod Beddows, chief executive of Hatch Corporate Finance, which specialises in metals, says there is “massive pessimism” in the steel industry about current conditions and future prospects, with the worries being most intense in Europe. “A lot of companies are floundering and not sure about how to alleviate the problems linked to overcapacity. New thinking is required but seems absent.”