Eurofer releases Economic & Steel Market Outlook for 2012-2013

EUROFER’s Q3-2012 steel market outlook signals that market fundamentals may remain depressed longer than expected, and only from the 2nd quarter of 2013 onwards is EU steel demand forecast to improve again.   EUROFER's general director Gordon Moffat: “Weak confidence in combination with liquidity and credit issues is showing a negative impact on the EU business climate. With global economic growth currently hitting a soft patch, export growth is also cooling down, despite the weaker Euro. This is bad news for the manufacturing sector and for steel consumption in the EU”. Despite the EU escaping a technical recession in Q1-2012, available data signal that economic momentum continued to slow down in the 1st half of the year. Moreover, sentiment has come again under pressure in recent months as concerns about the Eurozone crisis and particularly the indecisive way it is being dealt with by EU’s policy makers have resurfaced.
  For the full report, click here:
Market Report-2012-July.pdf