ArcelorMittal Expects Global Steel Demand to Rebound except for China

ArcelorMittal, the world's second largest steelmaker, said that it expects global steel demand to rebound this year with the exception of the demand in the Chinese.

According to the financial report released by ArcelorMittal, the company's shipments in 2022 dropped sharply by 11% on the year. ArcelorMittal said the slowdown of the global economy last year was the main cause. However, the company is optimistic about this year's global steel consumption, and expects to see its shipments increase by 5% year-on-year. The assumption is based on the fact that many end consumers were destocking at a fairly rapid pace in the second half year of 2022, which underpins steel apparent consumption, a barometer for world economy. In fact, the steel apparent consumption in many regions shrank last year.

The global steel demand this year, according to ArcelorMittal, will pick up driven by economic recovery and restocking activities.  ArcelorMittal forecasts that steel apparent consumption outside of China will post an increase of 2-3% in 2023, including Europe and the US.

However, the company is more cautious about China's demand forecast, predicting that China's steel demand may contract by 1%. This is because although China has optimised its countermeasures to the covid-19, the continued downturn in China's real estate industry may still hamper a strong recovery in steel demand.