The layout of the industrial sector was not limited to the steel industry. With the advent of the second industrial revolution, the applications of copper became ever more widespread.
In 1870, Austria's copper production reached 580,000 tons, while the market demand was as high as 720,000 tons, creating a shortfall of one-sixth.
The primary cause of this situation was the arrival of the electrical era. As a vanguard driving the electrical revolution, Austria's demand for copper naturally rose with each day.
To adjust the market supply and demand, the Vienna Government even resorted to administrative orders to increase production in state-owned enterprises, but this imbalance could not be changed in a short time.
There was no remedy for it: if there was a shortage of steel, one could still purchase it on the international market, but copper was not to be hoped for.