Study highlights 2 billion metric tons global market for steel
Article continues below
A new market study published by Global Industry Analysts released its report titled "Steel - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics".
The report presents fresh perspectives on opportunities and challenges in a significantly transformed post COVID-19 marketplace.
Construction, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is projected to grow at a 2.7% CAGR, while growth in the Machinery segment is readjusted to a revised 2.9% CAGR.
Steel, one of the most essential engineering materials, is known for its diverse applications in every aspect of human life, ranging from buildings and infrastructure constructions and machinery to metal goods, automobiles, ships and rail, oil & gas infrastructure, and domestic appliances, among others.
Steel is the foundation for a number of industries in general and manufacturing industry in particular.
Almost all manufacturing plants and machinery is made of, or contains steel.
Large families of iron alloys that can be effortlessly malleable are collectively called as steel.
Steel is usually made up of iron ore, coal, and limestone.
The material is cast in two different ways - either directly to shape, or to ingots, which are heated again and hot worked to bring them to a wrought shape by a number of processes including forging, extrusion and rolling.
Wrought steels are available in a wide range of shapes with diverse properties and finishes.
Of late, the steel industry's attention shifted towards offering customers lighter, strong, clean, recyclable, flexible, and cost-efficient steel than ever.
The effort of the steel industry resulted in the birth of high tech rollers, which transfers the glowing blocks of steel glide, electronic sensors that monitors the progress of steel glide and computer monitors to guarantee quality control.
The long-term prospects for the world steel industry remain progressive.
Fortunes of finished steel products market depend on health of key end-use markets such as construction sector, automobile and automotive component manufacturing, metal goods fabrication, ship building, machinery manufacturing, oil & gas infrastructure, among others.
Given that business cycles in these end-use markets reflect the general economic activity of a nation, demand for steel is highly sensitive to the broader economic variables in a given country or a region.
In the post COVID-19 period, anticipated recovery in construction activity, improvement in manufacturing sector and subsequent rise in demand for and production of a range of machinery, rise in fabrication of metal goods, and renewed demand for and production of transportation solutions, in line with improvement in global economy, will therefore drive demand for finished steel.
Other megatrends inciting long term growth prospects include ongoing urbanization drive, escalating demand for energy and water.
Global outlook for steel remains moderately positive and although not free from downside risks but nevertheless with relatively better growth prospects in certain parts of the world than witnessed in 2020.
While China continues to play an influential role, urbanization trends in other countries would drive growth in the construction and automotive markets in the post COVID-19 period.
China remains the largest regional market for finished steel products, owing to the huge construction and industrial activity in the region, which generates high demand for a range of steel products.
Post COVID-19 growth prospects for finished steel products in other developing markets such as India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East appear promising.
Strong pace of economic development, industrialization, rapid urbanization, steady rise in construction activity and robust demand for automobiles among others will help boost demand for steel in these regions in the post COVID-19 environment.
Growth will also be driven by other fast developing nations such as Turkey, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and Thailand among others.
A mature sector now, the steel industry currently is banking on technology innovations and new product developments as key competitive differentiating factors, which makes the industry rife with technology collaborations, partnerships, and alliances as players compete to sharpen their technology prowess both in terms of manufacturing processes, production and marketing.
Although the post COVID-19 demand for steel is likely to improve considerably, certain issues and challenges would continue to challenge market prospects.
Slow pace of economic growth in core markets such as Europe, overcapacity and oversupply issues, pricing and margin pressures, and volatile global oil prices are likely to wield immense pressure on steel industry in the post COVID-19 period.
The raging war between Russia and Ukraine is set to rock various metal commodities and have spiraling impact on prices.
The deepening crisis is bound to maintain high pressure on numerous commodities over the near-term, with metal commodities bearing a significant impact.
Ongoing conflict involving Russia, a major supplier of aluminum, nickel, oil and natural gas, and Ukraine is expected to stoke inflation and heavily impact supply chains serving diverse industry verticals.
The onset of war in February led an upward pricing frenzy for various metal commodities, with aluminum prices touching a record level.
The continuing conflict has raised serious concerns pertaining to trade flows, supplies and availability of different commodities.
The recent move by Australia to ban export of key raw materials used in production of aluminum to Russia has pushed aluminum prices.
The continuing crisis is leading to higher prices of various industrial raw materials, including steel, nickel, crude oil and tin.
The conflict is prompting the US, Japan and Europe to impose economic sanctions on Russia, making prices of various commodities dearer.
Commodities including nickel, aluminum and palladium are experiencing upward pricing trend and making it challenging for other countries to secure supplies from alternative locations.
The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia is bound to influence global trade and demand for steel as both countries represent major exporters of steel-related products.
The problem holds specific concerns for industries and countries that have been already struggling with related risk factors, including microchip shortages, slowdown in China and escalating natural resources and energy prices.
The Russia-Ukraine war has exacerbated these risks and is anticipated to hold major implications for steel demand.
Considering strong positions of Russia and Ukraine in the global steel market, the conflict is bound to impact steel trade.
Steel prices are anticipated to continue moving upwards due to strong demand indicators coupled with the impact of ongoing conflict on the supply chain.
Prices of steel have already scaled heights and are continuously moving up following the conflict.
The Russia-Ukraine war is affecting flow of various raw materials along with finished goods.
These factors along with robust steel demand are expected to increase prices.
The conflict is also affecting local production of steel as majority of facilities in Ukraine have suspending manufacturing operations owing to safety issues.
Resumption of operations would require companies to not only ensure safety, but also secure coking coal supplies.
Steel is expected to be also affected by logistics challenges as rising energy prices and port-related issues are leading to high freight rates. ■