Around the metalworking world in 7 news

Every once in a while you have to make a different, out-of-the-box move. This is one. We are used to starting the newsletter with a general interest article: news from the world, updates on fairs, insights on the world of metals. Instead of delving into a specific topic that might be of interest to expometals.net's readers, today we condense many of them into a few lines. Around the globe in 7 news stories; a tour made up of seven stages, which does not claim to be exhaustive. It is up to you to deepen the one that most appeals to you. If you enjoy this experiment, let us know.

Worldwide: According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, the global economy will grow by 6% in 2021 and 4.4% in 2022. The recovery of the global economy will be supported by a large supply of vaccines and the rapid adaptation of people to the new pandemic conditions. China's fast economic recovery, as well as the new U.S. investment program, would have a positive impact. The forecasts could be revised upwards, should vaccinations campaigns become faster. "A more prolonged pandemic with virus variants that evade vaccines," said IMF, could "lead to a sharp downgrade".

Europe: Material shortages and import scarcity continue to hold the stage in the Old Continent. As reported by MEPS, European stainless steel producers have limited ability to meet demand; at the same time, shipping rates are sky-high due to the scarcity of containers triggered by the pandemic. This, combined with the EC safeguard quotas and anti-dumping measures, is preventing buyers from supplementing their stocks with imported products. Unfortunately, although there is no formal indication, these measures (due to expire on June 30 this year) are expected to be extended, as overproduction in China remains a concern and the Section 232 tariffs still apply in the United States.

USA: US President Joe Biden announced its new infrastructure plan, called the American Jobs Plan, requesting $2.3 trillion over eight years to modernize the country's infrastructure. The issue of aluminum and steel tariffs, which Biden inherited from Trump, is still on the table. There is increasing pressure from many sides in one direction or another, while statements from Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo – who claimed those tariffs have “been effective” - suggest these measures will not be rolled out anytime soon.

India: According to Argus Media, India's private-sector JSW Steel is set to become the largest steel manufacturer in the country. Thanks to the inauguration of a brand-new hot strip mill and the recent acquisition of Bhushan Power & Steel (BPSL), the company will increase its production capacity to 27 MT/y in the 2021-22 financial year, ousting Tata Steel from the top spot.

Russia: Skyrocketing construction prices in Russia are worrying the many, so much so that the Kremlin could introduce new measures to curb the situation, states Bloomberg. Among the options on the table there may be the idea of setting an indicative price for all the main metal products used in the field, as well as creating a mechanism that could be used to tax the sales of such articles over a certain price.

South-East Asia: The South East Asian Iron and Steel Institute estimates that steel consumption for the region will grow by about 4-5% in 2021. In the last quarter of 2020, many ASEAN countries have been exporting an exceptionally higher volume of steel to China, mainly semi-finished products, wire rods and bars, at a point where China's overcoming of the pandemic and anticipated economic reboot needed an immediate supply of steel.

Africa: The Musina-Makhado Energy-Metallurgical Special Economic Zone (EMSEZ) is a grandiose industry project concerning the South-African Limpopo province. A pharaonic plan, made up of 20 steel and metalworking plants, set to create 54,000 jobs. The 8,000-hectares coal-powered industrial facility is threatened by numerous protests from environmental activists, who argue that EMSEZ would generate 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide - more than double South Africa's annual emissions.