China's steel demand is expected to reach 666 million mt in 2013, up 4.1 percent compared to the current year, as announced by the China Metallurgical Industrial Planning and Research Institute (CMIPRI).
Accordingly, in 2013 steel demand from the construction sector in China is anticipated to reach 365 million mt, up 4.3 percent year on year, while steel demand from the machinery sector is foreseen to reach 131 million mt, up 4.8 percent year on year. Meanwhile, in 2013 steel demand from the automotive, energy and shipbuilding sectors in China is expected to reach 44.2 million mt, 30.5 million mt and 13.5 million mt, up 5.7 percent, 2.3 percent and 15.6 percent respectively, all year on year.
Furthermore, steel demand from railway construction in China in 2013 is predicted to reach 4.7 million mt, up 9.3 percent year on year, while steel demand from the household appliance and container sectors is expected to remained unchanged compared to the current year.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, back in October this year, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) had stated that the Chinese government's stimulus measures are likely to moderately improve the economic situation, which has been impacted by sluggish exports amid the global economic slowdown. Accordingly, worldsteel predicted that in 2013 China's apparent steel use to rise by 3.1 percent, reaching 659.2 million mt.