Global steel demand is expected to grow steadily and China has reached its peak

On April 18, Edwin Basson, Director-General of the World Steel Association, said that global steel demand is expected to remain stable for a long time, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 1%. At present, China's steel demand has reached its peak.

"Overall, we can see a positive growth in steel demand and a greater shift to developing countries." Barson said. "The steel market is very strong, and we expect demand to grow slightly on the current 1.7 billion tons per year." He said.

Barson predicts that global steel demand will grow steadily to 2 billion tons by 2040.

Earlier this week, the World Iron and Steel Association predicted that global steel demand would grow by 1.3% to 1.735 billion tons in 2019, down from 2.1% last year, which was largely driven by Chinese demand.

The World Steel Association predicts that global steel demand will reach 1.752 billion tons in 2020, an increase of 1% over the same period last year, while China's demand is expected to decline by 1%.

"China's steel demand has peaked." Barson said.

However, China's steel production is still growing. On April 17, the National Bureau of Statistics released data showing that China's crude steel output in March was 8.033 million tons, an increase of 10% over the same period last year. With the end of the winter production reduction policy and the increase of end-user demand, steel production is expected to increase further in April.