The World Steel Association has issued its outlook for steel apparent demand, indicating that this year global demand will fall by -6.4% year-on-year, before recovering 3.8% y-o-y in 2021.

The outlook was postponed by the association due to the uncertainties created by the Covid-19 outbreak. “The COVID-19 crisis, with its disastrous consequences for public health, also represents an enormous crisis for the world economy. Our customers have been hit by a general freeze in consumption, by shutdowns and by disrupted supply chains. We therefore expect steel demand to decline significantly in most countries, especially during the second quarter. With the easing of restrictions that started in May, we expect the situation to gradually improve, but the recovery path will be slow,” worldsteel said.

The fall expected for this year is in line with that registered in the 2008-2009 financial crisis, nevertheless Edwin Basson, director general of worldsteel, noted that this time around steel demand is expected to fall less compared with the dramatic fall projected for global GDP.