SteelOrbis Shanghai
The vice chairman and general secretary of the China Iron and Steel Association CISA) Luo Bingsheng recently stated that given the 2008 global economic growth which is likely to be lower than that of 2007, the world steel market in 2008 will see a slowdown in its growth compared with the previous year. With its economy maintaining rapid and steady development, China will continue to show strong demand for steel. It is estimated that China's apparent consumption of crude steel in 2008 will rise by 11 percent or so year on year, slightly lower than the 11.87 percent growth rate registered in 2007. China's crude steel production for 2008 is likely to reach 520-540 million mt, up 30-50 million mt or 6.3-10.4 percent year on year.
Due to certain political factors, the country's steel exports in 2008 are expected to decline in comparison with the 2007 figure, but will remain at a relatively high level. According to Mr. Luo's estimation, China will export around 48 million mt of finished steel and 1.5 million mt of semis this year, equaling 52.5 million mt of crude steel for the whole year, down 20 million mt or 27 percent year on year; meanwhile, steel imports in 2008 will reach 16 million mt of finished steel and 220,000 mt of semis, basically neutral compared with imports in 2007.