Author: F. Henze
Abstract
The galvanising of steel sheet products has been a success story over the last 50 years.
Compared with a total Western European steel market that grew on average only 0.5% per
annum in the second half of the century, galvanised sheet products achieved growth rates of
up to 8% per annum.
There is little surprise that galvanised products now have the largest share of the Western
European flat products market. In 1997, Western Europe consumed 63.3 million tonnes* of
flat products, with galvanised products accounting for 19.0 million tonnes or 30% of that
market. Including tinplate and organically coated products, Western Europe’s total coated
product ratio stood at 41% compared with 32% in the US.
