1、 Trade Environment and Policy Challenges
North American trade friction intensifies
The United States has imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum products (to be implemented in 2024), resulting in a sharp decline in shipments from Canadian steel companies and nearly a thousand layoffs; If the policy continues, the capacity utilization rate may fall to a historical low by 2025. The Canadian government has introduced a temporary tariff quota system (imposing a 50% tax on imports exceeding the benchmark), but the industry believes that the policy's coverage is insufficient and has failed to effectively curb dumping risks.
Pressure on the industrial chain
The combination of trade barriers and fluctuations in raw material costs has forced some companies to consider transferring their production capacity to low tariff areas, posing a threat to Canada's domestic primary steel industry with a scale of 15 billion Canadian dollars.
2、 Market demand driving factors
Building application expansion
Light steel keel is widely used in commercial buildings, public facilities, and residential decoration due to its advantages of lightweight, high strength, fire and earthquake resistance, and convenient construction. Especially in the context of old building renovation and increasing demand for environmentally friendly building materials, the market potential is significant.
Environmental policies promote
Canada follows the global trend of green buildings, and light steel keel, as a low-carbon material (with low production pollution and recyclability), conforms to the policy orientation of "carbon neutrality" and has a bullish long-term demand.
III. Core Development Bottlenecks
Cost and professional barriers
The production cost of light steel keel is higher than that of traditional building materials, and it relies on professional construction teams, which increases the overall building cost and may suppress the willingness of small and medium-sized projects to adopt it.
Import competition and policy uncertainty
Global overcapacity may shift to the Canadian market for dumping, and current tariff quotas have failed to cover major exporting countries such as South Korea and Vietnam, causing domestic enterprises to face price shocks; The lag in government policy adjustments exacerbates industry risks.
📈  4、 Future Trends and Prospects
Technological upgrade and product innovation: Improve processing accuracy through intelligent production, develop light steel keel systems suitable for new types of boards such as calcium silicate board, and expand application scenarios.
International collaborative breakthrough: relying on cost advantages to explore overseas markets, but addressing the export contraction caused by US trade barriers (such as tariffs on automotive parts) is necessary.