CHINA April 22 2015 9:25 AM
SHANGHAI (Scrap Register): Chinese steel demand in 2014 saw negative growth for the first time since 1995 due to the government’s rebalancing efforts that had a major impact on the real estate market, said The World Steel Association (worldsteel) in a snippet.
This situation is likely to remain unchanged in the short term and Chinese steel use will continue to record negative growth of -0.5% in both 2015 and 2016.
In the medium term no strong rebound is expected. Some uncertainty remains regarding the impact of government measures aimed at stabilising the decelerating economy.
The rebalancing of the Chinese economy is inevitable as China enters its next stage of development, but it will take time.
In the short term, it has global consequences for the steel industry in terms of trade flows and possible intensification of trade frictions, resulting from significant increases in steel imports in many economies during 2014.
