SHANGHAI, Feb. 6 (SMM) – The growth of China’s apparent crude steel consumption is expected to be low in 2015, Shanghai Metals Market’s ferrous branch Steelease foresees.  

A slow growth of crude steel capacity, a possible drop in steel exports and weak downstream demand in China are the major three reasons behind Steelease’s estimation.   

In 2014, China’s apparent crude steel demand hit 732 million tonnes, up 1.12% from a year ago, according to Steelease data. The growth, down 7.8 percentage points from 2013’s marked the slowest pace in almost a decade. 

Slower growth was largely the result of Chinese economic slowdown and sluggish downstream sectors, especially the property sector, Steelease believes.