Developing Economies' Steel Demand to Witness Strong Rally

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The steel demand in developing economies is likely to see quick rebound in 2021 and 2022, said the Short Range Outlook (SRO) April 2021 report published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

The SRO predicts steel demand growth of 10.2% and 5.2% in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The rebound is mainly on account of global economic recovery and increased government spending on infrastructure projects, following months of shutdown due to Covid-19 pandemic. It must be noted that the steel demand in developing economies excluding China had registered decline by 7.8% during the previous year.

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The Indian steel demand, which fell by 13.7% in 2020, is expected to rebound by almost 20% in 2021 to exceed the 2019 level. The country’s economy has been showing strong recovery since August 2020.

The SRO expects boosted demand to steel in ASEAN, driven by construction and tourism sectors. The Latin American and MENA region economies, which were severely hit by the pandemic, are expected to see healthy recovery in 2021 and 2022. The Russian steel demand is expected to see modest recovery in 2021-’22, whereas the Turkish demand is expected to return to the pre-currency crisis level in 2022.