UPDATE: Eurofer Sees 2012 EU Steel Demand Slightly Down; 2013 Up Again
03 Febbraio 2012 - 4:02PM
Dow Jones News
European Union steel demand is forecast to ebb in 2012 but then
pick up in 2013, buoyed by resilient end-customer demand despite
recession concerns, the European steelmakers' federation, or
Eurofer, said Friday.
Eurofer foresees "only a very mild reduction in demand" in 2012
and expects real and apparent steel consumption to strengthen again
in 2013, its Director-general Gordon Moffat said in a
statement.
Eurofer, which represents steelmakers such as ArcelorMittal (MT)
and ThyssenKrupp AG (TKA.XE), said it expects EU real demand to dip
0.6% in 2012 to levels seen at the beginning of 2011 and then rise
2% in 2013 as the steel demand from various sectors improves during
the course of 2012 and into 2013. EU real steel demand rose 6.6% in
2011.
"Companies will remain cautious for the time being, but there is
no indication that industrial orders will fall off a cliff," Moffat
noted. "Order backlogs are quite strong. The outlook for most
steel-users is relatively benign."
Moffat said it is hard to gauge when confidence will return to
the market, but he said he was encouraged by improving
foward-looking indicators such as industrial confidence and
manufacturing purchasing managers index. They "appear to have taken
a turn for the better in recent weeks," he said.
Meanwhile apparent steel consumption is forecast to drop 2% to
156 million metric tons in 2012 after rising an estimated 7.2% to
159 million tons in 2010. EU apparent steel demand is forecast to
rise 2.9% to 160 million tons in 2013, the steel body said.
-By Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9328;
alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
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