India liberalised its steel sector in 1992 and at present the private sector has a dominant position, as about 80% of crude steel output in FY2018 came from private companies. The steel sector is going through a phase of consolidation and companies operating in the sector are expected to undertake brownfield investments for expansion. The Indian iron ore segment is highly fragmented, with more than 40 companies performing mining activities. The government’s presence in the sector is significant, at about 35%, as it controls the country’s two largest iron ore mining companies, in terms of production volumes. Unlike that of iron ore, the production of crude steel in India is dominated by the private sector, which controlled 80% of it in FY2018. The six largest companies in the finished steel segment accounted for 54% of total production in FY2018.

The total number of companies operating in Poland’s metallic and non-metallic mining sector was 193 at the end of 2017, excluding companies, employing up to nine persons. The industry is dominated by a handful of large companies. The biggest company in the sector is one the world’s leading copper and silver producers - KGHM Polska Miedz. Other major entities are either foreign-owned (Cemex Polska, Lafarge Group, Nordkalk) or belong to larger domestic groups - ZGH Boleslaw (from steel group Stalprodukt group) or ZA Siarkopol (from chemical group Grupa Azoty).

Forests cover nearly 30% of the land area in the world. Deforestation activities have exponentially witnessed an increase since the 1990s. As per reports published by the FAO, nearly half of the tropical forests across the world have witnessed a decline. Nearly 18.7 million acres of forests are lost every year according to the World Wildlife Fund reports. In 2016, the overall tree cover loss was approximately 30 million ha (73 million acres). However, in a few regions, the forest area is expected to witness an increase over the next few years. This can be attributed to the different regulations that are being implemented by the government in various countries to curb the deforestation process, thereby maintaining the integrity of the environment.

1-4 月经济数据平稳向好,尤其是房地产投资、新开工面积增速、房屋销售面积和基建投资增速等企稳向好，钢材需求出现回暖迹象。

回溯历史，我们可以看到钢铁板块走势相对于上证综指表现出更大的弹性，在业绩波动外，市场对于行业未来走势的心理预期的过度乐观或过度悲观可以部分解释这一现象。按照行业实际业绩情况和对于预期判断的不同，行业估值走势大致可分为四个阶段。预期改善/变差，估值主动上升/下降；业绩下行/提升，估值被动上升/下降。