EUROFER Foresees Consolidation of Gloomy Steel Market Outlook

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The European Steel Association (EUROFER) stated that the gloomier outlook for the steel market for the rest of the current year is seen consolidating and is likely to have spill over effects in the forthcoming year as well.

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According to Axel Eggert, Director General, EUROFER, the industry has been facing skyrocketing energy prices and bottlenecks in supply chains for nearly a year. Also, it has been impacted with dire consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for almost the past six months. There is no sign that the uncertainty will ease any time soon, he added.

The apparent steel consumption has recorded milder growth by 6.5% in the initial quarter of the current year, compared with 15.2% growth during the previous year. This is very much below the pre-pandemic peak recorded in 2018. EUROFER expects the declining trend to persist in the remainder of the year. This could lead to a moderate recession. Furthermore, the output growth of steel-consuming sectors is likely to halve, it noted.

The EU steel market reported flat growth in domestic deliveries during the first quarter of the year. The imports into the EU witnessed significant growth in Q1 2022, though at a slower pace when compared with Q3 and Q4 in 2021.

The performance in Q1 this year reiterates a marked slowdown in the positive trend observed in the previous year, EUROFER observed.