Industry & Economy
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Steel
`Global steel demand to rise 20-25 mt in 2006'
Our Bureau
New Delhi
,
Oct. 4
THE International Iron and Steel Institute has said global steel demand in 2006 would be 20-25 million tonnes higher than the current year.
The prospects are good for continued growth in steel demand worldwide according to the latest projections by the institute in its report `Short Range Outlook for Steel Demand'.
Apparent steel demand is forecast to grow to 1,040-1,053 million tonnes in 2006 from 972 million tonnes in 2004.
This is a growth of four to five per cent over the two-year period. The strongest growth will continue to come from China, which should see a 10-per cent increase in steel demand in 2005 and a 7-10 per cent growth next year.
In the rest of the world, steel demand in 2005 will be the same as in 2004.
A significant build-up of steel inventories in 2004 has been worked off this year.
In 2006, there should be a renewed increase in apparent steel demand of 20-25 million tonnes in the rest of the world and a increase of 20-30 million tonnes in China.
The forecasts for 2006 are given across a range to reflect the uncertainty in the prospects of a pick-up in economic growth, which may be adversely impacted by the sharp rises in the price of oil and energy.
However, the forecasts confirm the trend in recent years of an increase in steel use in line with the general economic growth, with the fastest growth occurring in countries with a high GDP growth such as India and China.
The cost of raw materials and energy continues to be a major challenge for the steel industry worldwide, the institute said in its report.
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