Author: Paul Ploumis07 Oct 2014 Last updated at 01:49:57 GMT 

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The Short Range Outlook (SRO) report published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel) has revised downwards, the global apparent steel demand forecasts for 2014 and 2015. According to the report, the positive momentum seen in second half of 2013 has abated in 2014. The steel demand from developing economies has weakened substantially during the year.

The report forecasts global apparent steel use to grow by 2% to 1,562 Mt in 2014. Also, the apparent steel usage will grow by another 2% in 2015 to reach 1,594 Mt. The associated had earlier predicted 3% growth to world steel demand during 2014 in its report published in April this year. The April ’14 report had forecast 3.2% growth in 2015.

The structural transformation phase of Chinese economy has led to slowdown in steel demand. Falling commodity prices, structural constraints and geopolitical tensions have decelerated apparent steel usage in South America and CIS countries. The US, EU and Japanese markets are expected to remain strong during the year on the backdrop of robust demand growth from automotive and energy sectors. However, the strength of these markets will still prove deficient to offset the slowdown in emerging economies.

The steel demand growth in developed economies is most likely to moderate during 2015. On the other hand, the growth in emerging and developing economies may pick up. Chinese rebalancing will continue to act as a drag on steel demand.