Mr. Sudarshan Singh of Saudi Arabia-based Al-Tuwarqi Group, the second speaker at the SteelOrbis Fall '07 Conference and 57th IREPAS meeting held in Warsaw, shared his expectations of positive growth for the world steel markets and for the Middle East steel market in particular in his presentation entitled, "The Role of Steel in the World Market."
Mr. Singh first discussed the growing demand for steel in the world, as well as the high growth in crude steel production. He said that in the first half of 2007, efficiency improvement and the installation of new facilities resulted in high crude steel production levels worldwide. He noted that demand and pricing for crude steel have remained strong in the oil-rich Middle East.
The top steel consumer in the Middle East is the United Arab Emirates which has a total annual consumption of 7.35 million tons, Mr. Singh stated. The Middle East in general has a growing demand for steel due in good part to the strength of the construction, transportation, petrochemical and power sectors in the Middle East. Steel consumption in the Middle East is expected to show a growth rate of 9.5 percent in 2007, Mr. Singh indicated.
For the European market, Mr. Singh named the main factors which are likely to impact the market positively: namely, the decrease in Chinese exports to Europe, increasing consumption, growth of technology and skills, good product quality, and the expansion of the EU.
His concerns for Europe include the growing costs of raw materials, iron ore and shipping; as well as competition from other markets, the aging population and trade barriers.
Looking forward, Mr. Singh said that in order to succeed the European steel markets need to invest in technology, infrastructure and employee skills, as well as continuing the trend of consolidation.
Mr. Singh concluded that steel production and development will continue to grow during the next five years, with continued stability from consolidation and technology. He also expects that oil prices will remain high and that steel demand from the Middle East will remain strong.