European flat steel market to see slight recovery in short term

During his speech at the 18th Galvanizing and Coil Coating Conference held by Metal Bulletin on September 10-12 in Munich, Jean-Martin Van der Hoeven, vice president of ArcelorMittal Flat Carbon Europe, said that the European flat steel market is expected to see a slight recovery in the short term.
 
Regarding the overcapacity in the industry and China's contribution to this problem, Van der Hoeven indicated that ArcelorMittal is not planning to reopen facilities it previously shut down. The ArcelorMittal official stated that interest in imported steel products has declined since it is not possible to forecast price changes between order times and delivery times, and also because it is difficult to make predictions regarding raw material prices. He went on to say that ArcelorMittal is not focusing on exports, but instead the company prefers to produce higher grades and offer them in niche markets.
 
Van der Hoeven's predictions for the last quarter of 2013 and the whole of 2014 are that for prices even in southern Europe, one of the regions in Europe which has suffered the most, to see a more stable trend, while he foresees that demand and inventory levels at the end of 2013 will be the same as at the end of 2012.
 
Van der Hoeven concluded by affirming that the European flat steel market will recover in the long term, principally on the back of the production of high quality and value-added steel in Europe.