In January-August this year Romania increased its crude steel output by 59.2 percent year on year, supported by export demand; meanwhile, domestic steel consumption was down compared to the same period last year.
"It is good that steel production and exports have increased, but I do not think that this is enough to halt the decline in domestic consumption, especially since our exports are generally low value-added," an analyst at brokerage house Target Capital told Romanian newspaper Ziarul Financiar.
According to the Romanian Association of Metal Distributors (ARDIMET), Romania's consumption of finished steel in 2010 is expected to reach 2.7 million mt, compared to around 3.1-3.2 million mt last year. "For 2011 we do not see an increase higher than five percent," ARDIMET said.
The main player in the Romanian steel market is the world's largest integrated metals and mining company ArcelorMittal, which operates through its subsidiary ArcelorMittal Galati, specialized mainly in heavy plate production, and three more steel plants located in Iasi, Roman and Hunedoara. In 2010, ArcelorMittal Galati plans to increase its crude steel production by about 30 percent to about 2.2 million mt, after being hit hard last year by falling demand both in export and domestic markets.