Steel demand forecast to rise 9 percent this year

ISTANBUL

This year demand for steel in Türkiye is expected to increase by 9 percent to 41.5 million tons, according to the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

Demand for steel grew 17 percent in 2023 and output amounted to 38.1 million tons.

Next year, however, demand for steel in Türkiye is expected to decline by 5 percent to 39.4 million tons, the association said in its April Short Range Outlook report.

Crude steel output in Türkiye, the world’s eighth-largest producer, surged 34.5 percent year-on-year in January-February to 6.3 million tons, while the annual increase in February alone was 46.6 percent to 3.1 million tons.

This year global demand will see a 1.7 percent rebound to reach 1.79 billion tons, the association said, adding that steel demand is forecast to grow by 1.2 percent in 2025 to reach 1.82 billion tons.

“After two years of negative growth and severe market volatility since the COVID crisis in 2020, we see early signs of global steel demand settling in a growth trajectory in 2024 and 2025,” commented Martin Theuringer, the chairman of the worldsteel economics committee.

While it seems the world economy will experience a soft landing from monetary tightening cycle, global steel demand growth is likely to remain weak and market volatility to remain high on the lagged impact of monetary tightening, high costs and high geopolitical uncertainties, according to Theuringer.

Global demand for steel is expected to ease to 1.2 percent in 2025, according to the association.

The report forecasts that demand in China, the world’s largest producer, will remain flat this year at 895.7 million tons, while it expects demand in India to increase by 8.2 percent to 144.3 million tons.