According to the short range outlook of the World Steel Association (worldsteel), apparent steel consumption in the US is expected to grow by 2.7 percent in 2013 due to continuing fiscal concerns, totaling 99.3 million mt, lower than the 8.4 percent growth recorded in 2012 amid the performance of the automotive and energy sectors and an increasingly resilient construction sector recovery. In 2014, US steel demand is expected to increase by 2.9 percent exceeding 100 million mt, with the help of positive momentum from the construction sector.
On the other hand, US GDP is forecast to rise by two percent in 2013, compared to the 2.2 percent increase achieved in 2012. In 2014, worldsteel expects that the country's GDP growth rate will increase to 2.6 percent.
According to worldsteel, for NAFTA as a whole, apparent steel use will grow by 2.9 percent and three percent in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Meanwhile, in Central and South America, apparent steel use is projected to rebound by 6.2 percent in 2013 to 49.8 million mt, from the 2.6 percent growth recorded in 2012. The region's steel demand is forecast to grow by 4.3 percent to 52 million mt in 2014. In Brazil, a rebound in investment coupled with the end of the recent de-stocking process is expected to bring apparent steel use growth of 4.3 percent to 26.2 million mt in 2013 and further growth of 3.8 percent to 27.2 million mt in 2014.