In the NAFTA region, apparent steel use in the US fell by 41.6 percent in 2009 reaching 57.4 million metric tons, according to World Steel Association (worldsteel).
With the recovery in the US economy and rebuilding of stocks, apparent steel use in the US is expected to grow by 26.5 percent in 2010 and then by 7.5 percent to 78.1 million metric tons in 2011, bringing apparent steel use back to the level of 1991.
For NAFTA, worldsteel forecasts that the apparent steel use in the region will grow by 23.5 percent year on year to 99.9 million metric tons in 2010 and will rise by 7.2 percent in 2011, reaching 107.1 million metric tons, similar to the 1993 level. In 2009 apparent steel use in the region regressed by 37.4 percent year on year to 80.9 million metric tons.