Steel demand in the country will grow by 5.9 per cent to 75.8 million tonnes in 2013 as monetary easing is expected to support investment, a report by World Steel Association has said.
“In India, steel demand is expected to pick up and will grow by 5.9 per cent to 75.8 million tonnes (MT) in 2013 following 2.5 per cent growth in 2012 as monetary easing is expected to support investment activities,” the report said.
It also said that growth in global steel consumption would more than double at 2.9 per cent to 1,454 MT in 2013 against 1.2 per cent growth witnessed in 2012.
“In 2014, growth in steel demand is expected to further accelerate to seven per cent thanks to the reform measures aimed at narrowing the fiscal deficit, coupled with measures to improve the foreign direct investment climate,” the report added.
“In 2014, it is forecast that world steel demand will grow further by 3.2 per cent and will reach 1,500 MT,” it said.
The association said this would happen due to the fact that the key risks to the global economy - the Eurozone crisis, a hard landing for the Chinese economy, and the US fiscal cliff issue - have all stabilised considerably.
“We now expect a recovery in global steel demand to kick in by the second half, led by the emerging economies,” the report said, adding it expects further pickup in global steel demand with the developed economies increasingly contributing to growth.
Among the major steel-producing nations, steel use in China is expected to grow by 3.5 per cent in 2013 to 668.8 MT, following a 1.9 per cent increase in 2012, it said.
In 2014, Chinese steel demand would grow by 2.5 per cent as the local government’s measures to control investment in an effort to re-balance the economy would remain in place.
Steel demand in Japan is expected to decline for the second consecutive year in 2013 by 2.2 per cent, it said.
In US, after a growth of 8.4 per cent in 2012, due to the automotive and energy sectors and an increasingly resilient construction recovery, apparent steel use is forecast to grow by 2.7 per cent to 99.3 MT in 2013, due to continuing fiscal concerns.
In the European Union, the lingering uncertainties associated with the euro crisis continued to weigh heavily on economic activities in the region, especially during the last quarter of 2012. As a result, apparent steel use in 2012 fell by 9.3 per cent with a widening gap seen at the country level.
“Steel demand in EU 27 is expected to contract further by 0.5 per cent in 2013, but will return to growth of 3.3 per cent in 2014 to reach 144.1 MT,” it said.