The World Steel Association adjusted down its forecast for the year-on-year growth in global steel demand to 4.5% compared with the previous 5.8%, concerning a slowdown in China's steel using sector's activity since July due to multiple factors, the association said in its Short Range Outlook.
China's steel demand in the second half of the year would be affected by some occasional factors, like the recent adverse weather and small waves of infections through this summer, and more substantive causes including the slowing momentum in the real estate sector and the government's cap on steel production.
The whole-year steel demand in the world's top steel-consuming country, which contributes about half of the total usage, is expected to fall by 1.0% in 2021, despite growth during the first eight months.
The World Steel Association predicts that global steel demand at 1.855 billion tonnes in 2021. The demand in 2022 is forecast to increase 2.2% year on year to 1.896 billion tonnes, also a lower expectation compared with the previous forecast of a 2.7% increase.
No growth in steel demand is expected in 2022, with the real estate sector remaining depressed as the recent government action to push for a transition away from the real estate-dependent growth model is likely to continue, according to the World Steel Association.
Steel demand in the developing economies excluding China continued to recover in 2021, thanks to the recovery in commodity prices and international trade, while that in developed countries is forecast to increase by 12.2% in 2021 and 4.3% in 2022, reaching its pre-pandemic level.
(Writing by Emma Yang Editing by Tammy Yang)
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