Metals mergers and acquisitions to remain weak in 2015: PwC

SPOKANE (Scrap Monster): The lack of conviction in strong and sustainable economic growth among global nations will keep the merger and acquisition in metals market subdued during the current year, noted PwC. The extremely low commodity prices are the second major factor that may prevent new deals in the industry during 2015.

The projections made by PwC suggests rise in deal volume growth in 2015 when compared with the previous year. The deal volumes are expected to post a compound annual growth rate of 1.9% during this year, when compared with 0.6% in 2014.

The metals deal values are projected to increase 47% in 2015. The jump in deal values is mainly due to the expected rise in aluminum price index during the year. The deal values had witnessed dramatic drop during 2014. Year-on-year, the deal values dropped from $34.8 billion in 2013 to $16.8 billion in 2014. Also, the number of deals during 2014 dropped 6% from 357 in 2013 to 336 in 2014.

The growth in demand for metals in China is expected to decline further in 2015, following the trend during the previous year. The expected rise in demand for metals in the US, Japan and Europe may fail to offset the slowing demand growth from China- the world’s largest consumer of metals. Sector wise, rising automotive industry demand is likely to benefit aluminum sector, whereas steel sector demand will remain negative.