In the last session of the SteelOrbis Spring 2014 Conference & 70th IREPAS Meeting held on March 30-April 1 in Barcelona, Kim Marti Subirana, international commercial director of Celsa Group, IREPAS chairman and chairman of the
rebar and
wire rod producers committee, said that long steel demand in GCC countries is quite strong as usual, especially in Qatar. Local governments' infrastructure spending, most importantly on housing, is providing support for higher demand. Stability is foreseen to continue in these countries which have solid budgets. However, he added, some new
rebar capacities are coming on stream in the Middle East and some capacity expansions are also being carried out.
Mr. Marti stated that significant differences are seen between the north and south of Europe in terms of long steel demand. In Germany, he said, residential construction is supporting long steel demand and in Poland EU funds of €1.6 billion are expected to be spent mostly on infrastructure investments. Long steel demand in Spain and Portugal is not anticipated to decline further after the severe contraction in past years, though Italian long steel demand may decrease by a further 10 percent this year, Mr. Marti warned. Greece, surprisingly, is foreseen to witness some improvement in long steel demand, with some infrastructure investments.
After the municipal elections last Sunday, the Turkish economy is expected to regain stability, the IREPAS chairman said, adding that Turkish
rebar producers are not expecting high antidumping margins as a result of the ongoing trade case in the US against Turkish
rebar.
To conclude, Mr. Marti stated that financial restrictions are limiting opportunities for
rebar and
wire rod producers, while providing some opportunities for traders.