According to the short range outlook of the World Steel Association (worldsteel) for 2014 and 2015, the worldsteel Economics Committee has revised down its global apparent steel consumption growth forecast to 3.1 percent from the growth rate of 3.3 percent it had forecast in October 2013, with global apparent steel consumption expected to total 1.527 billion mt in 2014. In 2015, world apparent steel demand is expected to increase by 3.3 percent year on year to 1.58 billion mt, according to worldsteel's forecast.
"In 2013 world steel demand grew higher than our previous forecasts due to a stronger than expected performance in the developed world in the second half of the year. In addition, the downturn in the EU bottomed out and we now expect that steel demand in the euro zone will move into positive growth in 2014. On the other hand, many emerging economies continue to struggle with structural issues and financial market volatility. This, along with China's deceleration, is the reason for our slightly lower global growth rate forecast for 2014," said Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff, chairman of the worldsteel Economics Committee.
Mr. Kerkhoff went on to say that the global steel demand recovery continues but growth is stabilizing at a lower rate with continued volatility and uncertainty leading to a challenging environment for steel companies.
According to worldsteel, overall apparent steel use growth in developed economies will be above two percent in 2014 and 2015, while the developing and emerging economies will continue to grow faster than the developed economies despite their more subdued performances.