The World Iron and Steel Association predicts that global steel demand will continue to grow - Linqing Xingmai Bearing Co., Ltd

On April 9th, London time, the World Steel Association released its short-term steel demand forecast for April 2024. It is expected that global steel demand will rebound by 1.7% in 2024, reaching 1.793 billion tons; By 2025, this number will increase to 1.815 billion tons. It is expected that global steel demand will continue to rise in the next two years.

As far as the Chinese market is concerned, it is expected that steel demand in China will remain stable in 2024. Although the decline in real estate investment has led to a decrease in some demand, the growth of infrastructure and manufacturing will make up for this gap. In 2025, it is expected that China's steel demand will slightly decrease, but still below its peak in 2020.

Except for China, steel demand in other countries is expected to increase by 3.5% annually from 2024 to 2025. India's steel demand will be driven by infrastructure investment and is expected to grow by 8%. The demand in 2025 is nearly 70 million tons more than in 2020. The demand for steel in emerging economies such as the Middle East, North Africa, and ASEAN will also accelerate growth.

In developed economies, the EU's steel demand is expected to experience a substantial recovery in 2025, while steel demand in the United States, Japan, and South Korea is expected to remain stable. The European Union and the United Kingdom remain the main challenges facing global steel demand growth, facing many uncertain factors, but it is expected to show signs of recovery by 2025.

In terms of downstream industries, the demand growth in the residential construction industry is relatively weak due to high interest rates and high construction costs, and global manufacturing activities are also facing challenges of uncertainty and weak demand.

The World Steel Association points out that the green transformation of the global economy will drive increased investment in the public infrastructure industry, which will have a positive impact on steel demand. It should be noted that high construction costs and labor shortages may constrain future growth in public infrastructure investment and manufacturing investment in the short term.

(Source: China Metallurgical Daily - China Steel News Network (GANGCAI))