The markets of stainless steels are growing steadily, but differently depending on the period and on the geographical area. They are supplied by an industry which is undergoing significant transformations of structure and production methods. This sector is characterized by a strong competition and worldwide exchanges which lead to reduced conversion margins and price alignment. The properties of stainless steels and the variety of their grades and applications contribute to their further development and competitivity.

The first industrial twin roll caster for carbon steel strips is under construction on the Nucor site at Crawfordsville. This installation based on the CASTRIP technology developed by BHP and IHI is expected to produce 500 000 tons per year of hot rolled strip with a thickness below 2 mm. In this paper the characteristics of the CASTRIP technology are presented, with reference to the economical aspects and further details on the main breakthroughs that had to be accomplished to improve the efficiency. The twin roll caster technology offers many advantages in terms of production costs, environment and production flexibility over more conventional production routes for carbon strips with a thickness below 2 mm. It is expected that the implementation of the new technology will foster the user demand for ultra thin gauge hot rolled strips.

This paper gives an account of the symposium organized in May 2002 in the memory of Dr Wolf, who died in November 2001. Many experts in the field of continuous casting have participated to this symposium, which has been the occasion to review the progress made in the continuous casting of conventional and thin slabs and to evaluate the state of the art and perspectives of thin strip casting. At the same time, general trends for the future in the steel industry have been discussed.

The History of Industry mirrors the History of Society, by which it is also reflected. Its purpose is to describe the emergence of technologies, which exhibit a personality of their own and not only bring out new possibilities, but also a stiffness to which all stakeholders, should to some extent yield, especially the decision makers in business circles. Technologies that succeed commercially are those which are able to provide sustainable answers to the demands put forward successively by each one of them. These robust technologies, which are not identical to the disruptive technologies of K. Brimacombe, meet criteria, which in effect are true innovation paradigms. A list of these is proposed here, stemming from a retrospective analysis of process development in the Steel Industry. It is probably adventurous to project these into a technological forecasting exercise, due to the non-deterministic nature of history. But this is an interesting way to focus on the challenges that should be met in the future and that no stakeholder would refuse to face.

Near-net shape beam-blank casting offers substantial advantages in relation to costs, but also product quality. It is an attractive solution for the production of heavy beams and sections. This paper outlines the fundamental desing aspects of beam-blank casting and illustrates the advantages of this technology by means of several examples of VAI-designed and suplied installations.

Steel is a universal material and has reached a high level of sophistication in applications and recycling potential. Rules are indicated for maintaining the sustainability of recycling (DfR concept). Consumer goods should be designed so as to maximize metal utilization, which is the only economical solution to meet ambitious recycling levels. The present level reached by recycling in France is compared to those targets in order to identify how much more progress has to be made.

The A75 motorway bypass of Millau in Aveyron, in south France, requires the construction of an impressive viaduct to cross the Tarn valley. The bridge which will be the highest in the world with piers reaching 240 m in height, will have a steel box section deck with an orthotropic upper flange. The launching will be carried out on steel lattice towers. Steel shows here its exceptional capacities to respond to the challenge of building one of the largest multiple cable-stayed span in a difficult site, at the eve of this new century.