The first graph illustrates fluctuations in the value of the steel industry in the UK from the 1970s to the year 2000, while the second line chart depicts changes in employment levels within the same industry over the same period.
Overall, it is evident that both the demand for and production of steel in the United Kingdom experienced a general decline during this period, while imports of this product showed an upward trend. Additionally, the number of employees working in this industry decreased gradually over the period, with a slight stabilization towards the end.
In 1970, the British people’s demand for steel was at its peak, with the figure accounting for 200,000 million tonnes. Until 1990, the demand for steel sharply declined, following that levelled off till 2000 and constituted 100,000 million tonnes. In contrast, at the beginning of the given period, like the figures for total UK demand, UK production of steel was responsible for about 170,000 million tonnes and experienced a sharp decline till 1990, followed by a period of stability till the last given year of 2000. When it comes to the share of steel import, it showed a constant growth over a 30-year period, beginning with approximately 15,000 million tonnes of import and ending with around 75,000 million tonnes.
In 1970, 50000 people were employed in steel industry in the UK and this figure saw a dramatic fall till 1990, making up 20,000 people working in this sector. After the year 1990, the import of steel showed almost no change, in spite of a slight reduction till 2000, with about 18,000 workers in steel industry.