Die Lage am Stahlmarkt: Belebung mit wenig Schwung
Crude steel production stagnated more or less during the first half of this year. For this year and the next only a moderate increase of production can be expected. The main reason is slowing economic growth in China in combination with a change of the production pattern in favor of less steel intensive industries. All in all, we forecast year over year growth of steel production to be slightly below 4% in this year and somewhat stronger in the next. In Germany, crude steel production is determined by special factors. Since autumn 2013, crude steel production shows a stronger increase than the production of rolled products, indicating that some producers build stocks of ingots. Therefore, crude steel production can be expected to decrease in the second half of this year. In the next year, demand for steel will be driven by growing investment expenditure and higher exports. Under these conditions, crude steel production will reach 43.6 mill. tons in the next year after 42.8 mill. tons in this year.
Döhrn, R. (2014), Die Lage am Stahlmarkt: Belebung mit wenig Schwung. RWI Konjunkturberichte, 65, 2, 15-22