Modeling Steel Supply Chain and Estimating Its Consumption through ABM Methodology

The purpose of this study was to develop an agent based model that could simulate the steel supply chain and estimate its production and consumption, taking into account the key factors of the steel industry. The approach of the present study is mixed (quantitative and qualitative). In the first part of the research (qualitative), the agents of the steel chain consumption model were obtained through interviews with experts using thematic analysis method. In the second part of the research (quantitative), a questionnaire was used to survey the causal relationships of the factors extracted from the interviews and the thematic analysis method, and then the relationship model was tested by the DEMATEL method. Finally, by using AnyLogic software and coding in Java language, a model of steel supply chain and its consumption was designed throughan agent-based  approach, and according to the opinion of steel industry experts, the model explanation process was also approved. The combination of agents identified in this study is consistent with the influence of factors on production, consumption, import and export of the steel chain in the proposed structural model.