World Steel Dynamics, a consultancy, reckons that the cost of building steel plants in China may be up to 60% lower than most other big steel-producing countries.

ECONOMIST: On a roll

On average, according to World Steel Dynamics, a consultancy, the mini-mills use less than one-third of the labour that the integrated mills need to make a tonne of sheet steel.

ECONOMIST: Steel: Rust never sleeps | The

Peter Marcus, a steel-industry veteran and managing partner of World Steel Dynamics in New York, says that by 2010 China will have capacity for steel products some 63m tonnes ahead of forecast domestic demand.

ECONOMIST: Steel industry