Tuesday 4 November 2008

Steel demand to fall 5pc

Global steel demand will fall 5 per cent next year as the financial crisis tips economies into recession, curbing purchases of the metal, according to research company World Steel Dynamics.

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  1. Steel demand to fall 5pc

    Bloomberg
    4 November

    Global steel demand will fall 5 per cent next year as the financial crisis tips economies into recession, curbing purchases of the metal, according to research company World Steel Dynamics.

    “New orders for steel in all regions of the world have probably had an unprecedented decline,” World Steel Dynamics managing partner Peter Marcus said. “We’ve gone from a chill to the deep freeze. Buyers have been on strike since July.”

    The global economic downturn is prompting consumers to delay purchases of homes and cars, driving down steel prices and forcing mills including ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest, to consider production cuts.

    Prices of iron ore, a key ingredient in making steel, might fall as much as 30 per cent in the coming year, and coking coal might drop up to 50 per cent, Mr Marcus said.

    “Global apparent steel demand will be down 3 per cent in 2008, and is expected to fall 5 per cent in 2009,” he said. “The industry is facing at least two years of significant oversupply.”

    Global steel output and utilisation might drop 5 per cent next year, Research & Consulting Group said.

    Coking and thermal coal demand growth in China might slow to 5 per cent next year, from this year’s estimated 8 per cent, as steel producers cut output and electricity consumption eased because of an economic slowdown, the China Coal Transport & Distribution Association said.

    China is the world’s largest steel producer.

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