Jeroen Vermeij: Developing economies slow down, developed economies gain strength

Speaking at Platts Steel Market Europe conference held on June 2-3 at Kempinski Hotel Bristol, Berlin, Jeroen Vermeij, EUROFER Director of Market Analysis and Economic Studies, said that the developed economies have started to gain strength, although slowly, while a slowdown has been observed in developing economies.
 
Mr. Vermeij stated that the US is expected to see strong growth in 2014-15, while Japan is maintaining moderate growth, and the EU continued to improve in April, though the developing economies have continued to slow down. He went onto say that the EU's 2014-15 outlook is positive and all sectors are expected to see growth, although at slow rates, while risks such as divergence at the country level, brisk euro appreciation and escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict remain high in the market.
 
Mr. Vermeij indicated that it is not possible to go back to 2007 levels in terms of demand and there was 30 million mt of idle capacity in the EU in 2013, adding that, due to margin pressure, EU steel companies are locked in a vicious cycle. He underlined that capacities should be recalibrated in line with realistic scenarios for the EU, export demand and trade flows.