Ferrous Division world-wide market update
 

Signs of recovery

Dear colleagues, dear friends, good news has returned and prices have gone up considerably. Since the second half of 2009, we have seen signs of recovery in the world steel markets - even in the US and EU markets which had been hit worst.

The early months of 2010 have confirmed this positive trend: compared to January 2009, worldwide steel capacity utilisation increased 11.6 percentage points to 72% in January 2010. Latest indications are that this utilisation rate is now heading for 80%. This is good news for our industry even though we must recognise that such production growth is not only a result of rising real steel demand but also a result of restocking to a large extent.

As discussed during our most recent meeting in Amsterdam, the world has seen a split steel industry of two different dynamics. On the one hand, the emerging markets - especially India and China - have been delivering impressive performances; on the other hand, the "old" Western economies have seen production volumes slide 30%.

See the full world wide market update in our members only section.