World Steel Association upgrades forecast

Steel association upgrades forecast on world demand for the metal. Steel demand worldwide is expected to contract in 2009 compared to a year earlier, but the decline will not be as sharp as in earlier forecasts because of growth in China, the World Steel Association said at its annual conference in Beijing. The Brussels-based World Steel Association said steel use will drop by about 9 percent to more than 1.2 billion tons this year after declining about 1 percent in 2008. Projections released in April showed a 14 percent decrease in 2009. This year, China's steel use is expected to increase by 19 percent to 578.6 million tons and will account for about 48 percent of world steel use. Steel demand in the United States is expected to fall nearly 39 percent this year and nearly 33 percent among the European Union's 27-member nations. The association said a global recovery is apparent and predicted steel demand in 2010 would grow by about 9 percent to more than 1.3 billion tons. The total would be a return to the 2008 level. Steel use in economies of emerging and developed countries is expected to increase in 2010 at rates of 12 percent and 15 percent respectively. "As before the financial crisis, the emerging economies, especially China, will be the critical factor in driving world steel demand in the near future," said Daniel Novegil, chairman of the association's Economics Committee. "While the state of the global economy has improved, uncertainties and concerns regarding the resilience of the recovery still remain with the possibility of any premature reduction in government stimulus actions." The World Steel Association is a nonprofit organization with members including 18 of the 20 world's largest steel companies.