Expert Analysis
Deep-dive audio insights from recognised industry experts
12 episodes | ~20 minutes each | Monthly release | Free to listen
About the Podcasts
Welcome to SteelOnTheNet Steel Industry Podcasts – your source for expert analysis and strategic intelligence on the global steel industry. The series now runs to 12 episodes, all free to listen to, with a new release each month.
Each episode delivers around 20 minutes of discussion on critical topics affecting steel producers, buyers, investors, and policymakers worldwide. Our host – Dr Andrzej M Kotas – brings decades of hands-on experience from major steel companies, international financial institutions, and industry consulting engagements across five continents.
Unlike breaking news coverage, our podcast focuses on steel company performance improvement: helping you make better business decisions. Topics include decarbonisation strategies, supply chain challenges, profit improvement programmes, and technology developments shaping the industry's future.
Perfect for listening during your commute, at the gym, or whenever you want to stay ahead of industry developments without reading lengthy reports.
All episodes are produced using AI-generated audio narration of scripts written by Dr Andrzej M Kotas.
Latest Episode
Episode 012: Buying a Steel Mill – Red Flags in Due Diligence
A steel mill can look profitable on paper and still need tens of millions in unplanned spending within two years of changing hands. When that happens, the buyer rarely lacked information — more often, the buyer accepted the seller's version of it.
Dr. Kotas sets out six red flags for lenders, acquirers and governments, each with a practical test: nameplate capacity that was never demonstrated, maintenance deferred to flatter earnings, cost assumptions the plant has never achieved, trader sales within five dollars a tonne of variable cost, a literal mountain of slag built up over fifty years, and supply contracts that may not survive a change of ownership. He closes with transfer pricing, labour relations, and numbers that do not reconcile.
The conclusion: never buy the data room — buy the plant. The seller sets the asking price. What you didn't find sets the real one.
Previous Episodes (11)
Episode 011: Why Steel Mills Don't Close – What Finally Closes Them
The industry agrees it has too much capacity, and has agreed so for decades. Yet closures arrive far more slowly than the economics would suggest. This episode asks why loss-making steel mills stay open — and what, in the end, actually switches the lights off.
The answer isn't sentiment. Closing costs more than continuing, in cash, in the first year: operating defers pensions, redundancy, decommissioning, remediation and take-or-pay commitments, while exit crystallises all of them at once. Dr. Kotas then sets out the five triggers that do force closure, drawing on Redcar's mothballing, restart and liquidation, Port Talbot's end-of-life heavy end, the 2025 emergency intervention at Scunthorpe, the permanent closure of Rohrwerk Maxhütte in Bavaria, and Smederevo in Serbia — sold back to the state for one dollar rather than closed.
The conclusion: overcapacity is a condition, not a cycle. Capacity does not leave when it stops paying — it leaves when somebody finally runs out of ways to postpone the bill.
Episode 010: Busting Some Big Steel Myths – Three Industry Fallacies
Some of the most persistent claims in steel policy debate don't survive close scrutiny. This episode takes on three of them — that steel in general is a strategic material, that developing economies need their own steel industry to industrialise, and that G7 countries must preserve iron-ore-based, virgin steelmaking to protect quality and security.
Dr. Kotas breaks each fallacy down using current data and live examples: British Steel's Scunthorpe works and its 2026 nationalisation, Sheffield Forgemasters' nuclear-grade forging capability, Nigeria's Ajaokuta Steel Company, India's ore-based expansion, and SNCF's switch to fully EAF-sourced rail steel in France.
The conclusion: each fallacy survives on assumption rather than evidence. Steel is not, in the main, a strategic material; developing economies don't need their own steel industry to industrialise; and G7 countries don't need virgin steelmaking to maintain quality or security.
Episode 009: The Feasibility Study Trap – Why Steel Projects Fail
Why do so many steel projects fail before they start? Dr. Kotas examines seven classic failure modes in steel feasibility studies: demand overestimation that includes non-addressable indirect demand, logistics and infrastructure blindspots, technology misjudgement, CAPEX underestimation without competitive vendor offers, cost competitiveness failures, optimism bias and sponsor pressure, and governance weakness. The conclusion: independence is non-negotiable.
Episode 008: China's Steel Flood – Overcapacity, Bankruptcies, and Promises
China exported a record 131 million tonnes of steel in 2025 — more than the entire European Union produces in a year. Global excess capacity reached 640 million tonnes. Dr. Kotas examines the property market collapse, the wave of mill bankruptcies, and why Beijing's capacity pledges are undermined by provincial governments. Conclusion: Chinese overcapacity is structural, not cyclical.
Episode 007: Capacity Utilisation – The Steel Industry's Most Powerful Predictive Metric
One number predicted every major steel crisis of the last fifty years before it arrived. Dr. Kotas explains why published utilisation figures frequently mislead, the different danger thresholds for BOF versus EAF operations, the 12–21 month predictive window, and three rules for using the metric correctly.
Episode 006: Understanding Steel Mill Yield Losses – From Hidden Costs to Profit Recovery
A practical examination of yield losses in bar rolling mills — crop losses, cobbles, scale formation, batch size optimisation, and furnace atmosphere control. A 2% yield improvement on a 500,000 tonne bar mill generates €4–7 million additional annual profit.
Episode 005: Steel Industry Investment Disasters – When Big Bets Go Wrong
Four of the most instructive investment disasters in the history of the global steel industry — Ajaokuta Nigeria ($8–14 billion, blast furnace never commissioned), Al Tuwairqi Pakistan ($342 million DRI plant closed after nine months), British Steel Hunterston Scotland (SL/RN technology failure), and Perwaja Malaysia (three decades of loss-making). Six hard lessons for anyone evaluating or financing large capital investments in steel.
Episode 004: Best Available Techniques – Your Roadmap to Efficiency and Profit
Best Available Techniques are far more than regulatory compliance paperwork — they are a comprehensive toolkit of proven technologies that steel mills are using right now to cut costs, reduce energy consumption, and improve yields. Deep dive into scrap preheating economics shows a 500,000 tonne/year EAF can save €4.8 million annually, with typical ROI of 15–20% and 5–6 year payback. Over 40 BAT techniques cover the entire production chain.
Episode 003: Hidden Value in EAF By-Products – Turning Waste into Profit
Discover how EAF operators can turn dust, slag, and waste heat into significant profit centers. Covers zinc recovery from EAF dust (€1-2 million annual improvement), scrap preheating economics (50-80 kWh/tonne savings), slag monetisation opportunities, and energy optimisation. Potential improvements of €3-8 per tonne of steel produced.
Episode 002: Profit Improvement Programmes in the Steel Industry
Strategic framework for improving steel company profitability through production asset optimisation, revenue enhancement, and cost reduction. Covers asset optimisation without new capital, distribution channel economics, benchmarking best practices, hidden operational inefficiencies, and customer profitability analysis.
Episode 001: Steel Scrap Supply – Strategic Implications for Decarbonisation
Analysis of steel scrap supply challenges as the industry transitions to EAF production. Covers BOF vs EAF economics, global trade flows (USA exports 15mt/year, Turkey imports 20mt/year), supply-demand projections, and strategic responses including vertical integration and M&A implications.
Our Expert Hosts
Dr Andrzej M Kotas
Founder & Lead Industry Analyst
30+ years experience leading $10+ billion in steel privatisations and restructurings for the World Bank, EBRD, and European Commission. Expert in steel industry turnaround, business viability analysis, and strategic planning across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
Why Listen to SteelOnTheNet Insights?
- Expert Analysis: Insights from consultants who've worked on billion-dollar steel projects worldwide
- Data-Driven: Every episode backed by specific statistics, market data, and real-world examples
- Strategic Focus: Not just what's happening, but why it matters and what comes next
- Efficient Format: ~20 minutes delivers substantive analysis without wasting your time
- Complementary Content: Episodes pair with our detailed written insights for deeper exploration
- Independent Perspective: No corporate agenda – just honest, expert analysis
- Practical Takeaways: Actionable insights for executives, investors, and industry professionals
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Have a Topic Suggestion?
We welcome suggestions for future podcast topics. If there's a steel industry issue you'd like our experts to analyse, please contact us with your suggestion.
Advisory Services
Need strategic advisory on topics covered in our podcasts? Our experts provide consulting services on steel industry decarbonisation, scrap supply chain strategy, EAF conversion planning, M&A evaluation, and market entry strategies.