The Global Market for Steel is Forecast to Exceed 2 Billion Tons by 2022

Rise in Investments in Infrastructure and Automotive Sectors to Improve Momentum in the Steel Market in the Near Term, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.

GIA launches comprehensive analysis of industry segments, trends, growth drivers, market share, size and demand forecasts on the global Steel market. The global market for Steel is forecast to exceed 2 billion tons by 2022, buoyed by the projected growth in infrastructure and automotive sectors in emerging markets.

Anemic recovery of the world economy is presenting a challenging business environment in the world steel industry. Oversupplied markets, falling prices, weak demand are major factors contributing to the industry’s woes. Decline in steel consumption in China amid government efforts to reduce reliance on manufacturing growth is a major factor aggravating supply surpluses in the international market. Steel prices have decline to 12-year lows. The sharp decline in global oil prices has additionally impacted the profitability of steel producers given the industry’s over 15% to 20% exposure to the energy sector. The difficult environment has also resulted in the closure and idling of several steelmaking operations. The steel market is also affected by the sluggish manufacturing sector. Over the mid-to-long term period, energy and infrastructure-related sectors are expected to post improvement in demand for steel.

With steel capacity increasing at a faster rate than consumption, overcapacity remains a key issue in the global steel industry. The next two years are forecast to witness capacity reductions in plants across the world. At present, China faces global pressure to rein in the glut in domestic supply, which has resulted in overseas markets being flooded with low-cost steel. A turnaround in steel prices will depend upon the extent of global capacity reductions, which in turn are subject to political influences and economic policies.  Though cost cutting initiatives have become an essential part of the industry, the paradigm has shifted from simple concepts of minimizing overheads to implementing measures to enhance functional productivity. Several steelmakers are embarking on strategies such as acquisition of plant mills to gain access to countries displaying high demand in certain application markets such as automotive. Also with downstream sectors such as automotive operating on a global platform, regional steelmakers are seeking to follow customers enroute with specialized products.

As stated by the new market research report on Steel, China represents the largest market worldwide. Asia-Pacific is poised to register the fastest growth with a CAGR of 6.2% over the analysis period, led by factors such as stable GDP gains, growing investments in infrastructure development, growing disposable income and strong automobile production and demand trends, steady pace of industrialization, and expansion of the manufacturing sector in countries such as India, Taiwan, Singapore and China.    

Major players covered in the report include Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation, ArcelorMittal S.A., Baosteel Co., Ltd., EVRAZ NTMK, Gerdau S.A., Hebei Iron and Steel Group Company Limited, Jiangsu Shagang Group, Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Nucor Corporation, POSCO, Riva Group, Tata Steel Group, ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, United States Steel Corporation, among others

The research report titled “Steel: A Global Strategic Business Report” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, issues, drivers, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic industry activities of global companies.  The report provides market estimates and projections in Thousand Metric Tons for all major geographic markets such as US, Canada, Japan, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia, Turkey, and Rest of Europe), China, Asia-Pacific (India, South Korea, Taiwan and Rest of Asia-Pacific), Middle East (Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Rest of Middle East), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Rest of Latin America) and Africa. Key end-use sectors analyzed include Construction, Transportation, Machinery, Metal Goods, Household Appliances, and Others (Oil & Gas among Others).

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