Josef Stalin ordered the construction of the Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol in 1930 — one of his mega-projects to industrialize the Soviet Union. For a time, the complex was one of the world's largest steel mills.
Nearly a century later, another Russian leader with a Stalinist bent, Vladimir Putin, ordered its destruction.
The bombs falling on the blast furnaces of Mariupol, the Ukrainian city under Russian siege, are a symbol of how the war has turned the steel market upside down.
The world is fixated on the war's impact on global energy markets. The surge in oil prices has dominated the headlines. But alongside oil, steel is a foundation of the modern economy.
Now Russia's invasion threatens to turn steel into a luxury commodity. Prices have surged, and the rally will be felt everywhere, adding to global inflationary pressures.
Consider the average car: About 60% of its weight comes from steel, according to the World Steel Association. In cash terms, the cost of that steel has gone up to more than 1,250 euros ($1,379) from about 400 euros in early 2019.
For central banks, the steel price boom is another inflation headache. Meanwhile, European governments may have to grapple with both price increases and the threat of potential shortages this summer. Rebar steel, the long and corrugated rods used to reinforce concrete in every construction project, may be in limited supply soon.
The European Union has already imposed sanctions on some Russian steel sales and has targeted most of the country's oligarchs who own large chunks of the Russian steel industry. And the war has all but stopped Ukrainian steel production.
