China to push global steel demand this year: World Steel Association

The World Steel Association has revised its 2019 Short-Range Outlook (SRO) for steel demand higher on Monday on the back of strong Chinese demand.

The Brussels based Worldsteel provided an updated SRO at its General Assembly in Monterrey, Mexico, and forecast global steel demand to grow by 3.9% to 1.775 billion tonnes, compared to an earlier forecast of 1.3% or 1.735 billion tonnes in April.

As per the new estimates, global steel demand is expected to grow by another 1.7% in 2020 to 1.805 billion tonnes with higher contribution expected from emerging and developing economies, excluding China.

Global steel demand, driven by China, is expected to see 7.8% growth to 900.1 million mt in 2019. The rest of the world is expected to record 0.2% growth to 874.9 million mt.
Commenting on the outlook, Al Remeithi, Chairman of the Worldsteel Economics Committee said: "The current SRO suggests that global steel demand will continue to grow in 2019, more than we expected in these challenging times, mainly due to China."

In the rest of the world, steel demand slowed in 2019 as uncertainty, trade tensions and geopolitical issues weighed on investment and trade. Manufacturing, particularly the auto industry, has performed poorly contracting in many countries. However in construction, despite some slowing, positive momentum has been maintained, the official added.
"While the global economic outlook is highly unpredictable, we expect to see further growth in steel demand in 2020 of 1.7%, with emerging and developing economies excluding China contributing more," the statement from Worldsteel said.

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