In the first half of this year apparent steel consumption in Spain improved by 23.8 percent as compared to the corresponding period of 2009, amounting to 6.8 million metric tons, according to the Spanish steel producers' association Unesid.
According to Unesid, the recovery in Spain's apparent steel consumption began in the last quarter of 2009 and, since then, stability has marked the evolution of apparent consumption. In the last three quarters, the consumption rate has trended sideways: 3.38 million metric tons in the fourth quarter of 209, 3.47 million mt in Q1 2010 and 3.35 million mt in Q2. Although some of this consumption, especially at the beginning of the year, had its origin in the rebuilding of inventories, estimated inventory building in the last six months is significantly lower than the elimination of inventories caused by the crisis, Unesid stressed. Apparent consumption is therefore approaching levels of real consumption at the moment and both customers and distributors are buying goods in line with consumer needs, without much speculation.
In the first half of this year, the apparent consumption of flat products in Spain rose by 63.7 percent, while consumption of long products declined by 7.5 percent, in line with the stagnancy in the construction industry.