Demand on the global long steel market is lower than supply – IREPAS

Market players expect China to slow its exports

Demand on the global long products market is falling below supply, and production volumes are declining. This is stated in a new review by the International Long Products Association (IREPAS).

Industry players expect China to slow down its exports, but the country is instead looking for new target markets.

Turkish producers of long products are still experiencing difficulties. They are waiting for demand to improve in the EU. Otherwise, as Chinese exports continue, Turkish mills will be forced to cut production even further.

The industry association describes the situation in the EU long products sector as «total stagnation». This state of affairs has been in place for about a year now, and there are no signs of improvement. Investment is still low despite lower interest rates, and most cutting and bending mills have spare capacity, which was not the case before. In addition, imports are significantly reduced with new protective measures and CBAM.

In the US, the situation for producers is more favorable. There is growing demand from infrastructure, commercial construction projects, and renewable energy projects. In terms of prices, imports are not more attractive to consumers, as US plants have enough capacity to meet domestic demand, and foreign supplies are subject to appropriate duties.

Most participants in the global long products market are more optimistic about the long-term outlook than the short-term, and the market is becoming more regionalized.

As GMK Center reported earlier, global rebar prices declined in most regions in May. The main factors that led to the negative trend were weak demand and a fairly high supply. The state of the construction industry in most countries is not conducive to positive changes in the long products market