Auburn University Study Shines Light on Alabama’s Steel Industry
Strategic Research Institute
Published on :
12 Oct, 2021, 5:32 am
According to a new economic impact study produced by Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business, Alabama’s iron and steel industry has transformed itself into a greener, cleaner, high tech producer that remains a robust economic influencer on the state’s economy and a major provider to America’s infrastructure. Auburn senior Mr Grant Stallworth, who played a lead role in the study, said “The initial project was an economic impact study on the iron and steel industry in Alabama, but what it turned into was a document for the current government and the public to realize the tremendous influence of iron and steel production in this state. That influence includes almost 15,000 direct jobs and more than 76,000 indirect jobs, and many of those jobs pay well above average income.”
He attributes that to new technological advances in the production process; and in the growing need for efficient managers, such as those in his field of supply chain management, to ensure raw materials, finished materials, labor, shipping and other factors all fall into place to cut costs and streamline distribution.
Among the report’s findings:
1. Higher-paying jobs with an industry wide average annual salary in Alabama of almost USD 100,000, and a much wider spectrum of skilled and unskilled labor in such fields as new technology and supply chain management
2. A switch among producers to new engineering and production methods that have exhaust stacks emitting harmless steam and much less carbon dioxide.
3. The greatly enhanced use of recycled materials to produce new iron and steel while bypassing landfills and helping the environment on the ground.
4. The provision of vital materials to other industries, such as shipbuilders in Mobile and ductile iron pipes for various critical infrastructures
Perhaps more surprising, the researchers said, was learning about the industry’s advancements in becoming cleaner and a major recycling proponent. Steel, for example, uses new technology, such as an electric arc furnace. Between 95 and 100 percent of the metal used in the production of finished iron and steel products in Alabama comes from recycled scrap. More and more Alabama foundries are integrating electric arc furnaces into their operations. Electric arc furnaces produce significantly less carbon dioxide than traditional melt sources
The project began as a partnership between the trade association Manufacture Alabama and Harbert’s Center for Supply Chain Innovation.