That there are so few takers for shares in the developed world's steel makers tells us why the Port Talbot steel works, owned by India's Tata Steel (TTST), is doomed in the long run. It also tells us why the response to the loss of the UK's remaining high-volume steel mill has been measured. True, there have been calls to nationalise Tata's UK steel interests, but these have been half-hearted. Meanwhile, the hysteria that would have gripped the Port Talbot affair had it occurred in the 1980s has been largely absent.
Perhaps there is a growing understanding that there are limits to the extent to which uncompetitive industries can be shielded from global market forces. After all, it's more a fact of life that an industry producing a commoditised product in a high-wage economy will struggle than it's the fault of anyone in particular, be it employees, owners or governments.