in India, South Africa, and Australia. Russia has had sufficient supplies of coal and iron, but the stage of industrial development in that country has not called for great expansion of its iron and steel industry.
There has been a tendency for iron and steel manufacture to become concentrated at a comparatively few places on the globe favored by the proper combinations of coal, iron, transportation, proximity to consuming populations, initiative and capacity to take advantage of a situation, and other factors. Even though on paper conditions may seem to be favorable in outlying territories for the development of additional plants, this development is often held back by competition from the established centers. On the west coast of the United States, there are raw materials for an iron and steel industry and there has been discussion for years as to the possibilities of starting a successful large scale steel industry. The consuming power of the local population for all kinds of iron and steel would seem to be great enough to warrant such action. However, the demand is for an extremely varied assortment of iron and steel products; and to start an industry, making only a few of the cruder products such as pig iron and semi-finished forms, would not meet this demand. All varieties of finishing plants and associated factories would also need to be started in order to meet the situation. This would require large capital. Furthermore the local demand for some of the accessory finished products might not warrant the establishment of the accessory plants.
Throughout the history of the iron and steel business there has been a marked tendency for the iron ore to move to regions