While steel demand in the
Middle East and
North Africa (MENA) had declined by two percent last year amid the political upheavals in the region, this year steel demand in the region is expected to increase by 4.9 percent to 62.7 million mt, according to short range outlook announced by worldsteel on October 11 during the 46th annual meeting of the World Steel Association held in New Delhi.
Jürgen Kerkhoff from the German Steel Federation (WV Stahl) said that the recovery of steel demand in the MENA region has been slower than expected due to continuing political instability.
However, in 2013 steel demand growth in the region is foreseen to accelerate to 6.7 percent, reaching 66.9 million mt.
Taking the
Middle East on its own, steel demand is foreseen to rise by 3.5 percent this year and by 5.9 percent in 2013, thus reaching 49.9 million mt in 2012 and moving up to 52.8 million mt the following year.