Mobility is fundamental to modern life, and the efficient transport of goods is a cornerstone of the global economy. Notably, global shipping freight rates have nearly doubled over the past three decades. Steel provides robust, safe, and sustainable solutions that facilitate this movement, enabling everything from bicycles, cars, and buses to trains, ships, and airplanes, as well as the essential infrastructure that supports them. For instance, reinforced concrete roads, structurally supported by steel rebar, contribute to improved fuel efficiency for heavy vehicles.
Steel is ideal for transportation applications due to its unique combination of durability, high strength (ensuring safety in collisions), lightweight nature, UV resistance, cost-effectiveness, and 100% recyclability. Continuous design innovations and the development of new high-strength steels have been pivotal in boosting the efficiency of transport modes while significantly reducing their lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Application of Steel in the Transportation Industry-1
How steel is used for transportation
Approximately 16% of globally produced steel is used to meet societal transportation needs, including automobiles. Steel is also critical for related infrastructure: roads, bridges, ports, railway stations, airports, and fuel stations. Key applications include:
For Ships and Containers:
The shipbuilding industry traditionally relies on structural steel plates for hulls. Modern plates offer significantly higher tensile strength than their predecessors, facilitating the efficient construction of large container ships. Special corrosion-resistant steel grades are ideal for building oil tankers. These advanced steels allow for lighter containers or larger-capacity units of the same weight, creating substantial opportunities to save fuel and reduce CO2 emissions.
Steel-built ships handle 90% of the world’s cargo. The global container fleet, estimated at 17 million units, is predominantly made from steel.
For Trains and Railcars:
Steel is essential for trains, railways, and associated infrastructure. For short- and medium-distance travel, rail transport reduces travel time and CO2 emissions per passenger-kilometer compared to almost any other mode of transport.
Steel constitutes about 15% of a high-speed train's mass and is vital for components like the bogies—the structures underneath that house wheels, axles, bearings, and motors. Freight wagons are almost entirely constructed from steel.
For Aircraft:
Critical components such as engines and landing gear are manufactured from high-performance steel.
For Infrastructure:
Steel is fundamental in constructing bridges, tunnels, railways, and buildings like fuel stations, terminals, ports, and airports. Approximately 60% of the steel used in such infrastructure is reinforcement bar
