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in 2012, followed by the US-Canada-Mexico NAFTA partnership
(demand up 6.3 per cent), Asia and Oceania (up 5.8 per cent), and
Europe (up 4.4 per cent). Steel demand in China is forecast to grow
5 per cent in 2012, below that of Asia and Oceania overall. This
suggests that demand in the region will be driven by other countries
than China, notably India.
Some highlights of the most recent World Steel Association outlook:
›
Over the next four years India should move up from fourth to
second place among steel producing nations;
›
Chinese steel consumption will likely decelerate in 2011 as
China tries to moderate its economic boom;
›
In the short term, steel demand in Japan will be lower as a result
of disruption to automotive production after the earthquake and
tsunami in March. But the need for reconstruction in devastated
areas favours the domestic steel industry, which can expect a
medium-term surge in demand;
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The highly efficient and cost-effective technologies of American
steel makers have lifted demand for their products in Asia and
the Middle East.
Elsewhere in steel . . .
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To meet growing demand for steel from the automotive sector
in India, Tata Steel said it will increase production of automotive
grade steel by 20 per cent to 1.2 million metric tons this fiscal year.
As reported in
Hindu Business Line
(24 June), the Indian steel maker,
which supplies over 40 per cent of demand from the domestic industry,
intends to continue to increase its auto steel capacity by 15 to 20 per
cent annually over the next few years. With its joint-venture partner
Nippon Steel, the company is also working on a new 0.6-million-mt
plant to produce high strength auto steel, to be commissioned by 2013.
In other news of Tata Steel, having added a new 0.3-million-mt cold
rolling mill at Jamshedpur the company is increasing the capacity
of that plant from 1.5 million mt to 2.2 million mt, according to HM
Nerurkar. The managing director spoke at an event held 24 June
in Mumbai to celebrate Tata Steel’s appearance in the
Fortune
magazine list of World’s Most Admired Companies for the second
consecutive year.
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Writing from Rio De Janeiro in
MarketWatch
(18 June), Diana
Kinch reported that, according to the British global investment
bank Barclays Capital, by September steel producers in Brazil may
have cut their prices on some flat steel grades. The mills, which had
avoided announcing price increases, would be acting in response
to the threat of rising imports and the excessively high inventories
carried by steel distributors. Citing information from Brazil’s Steel
Distributors’ Institute (INDA), Barclays noted that preliminary figures
for May pointed to stocks levels equivalent to 3.7 months’ flat steel
usage – higher than the 2.6 months’ level “normal” for the industry.
Other metals . . .
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VSMPO-AVISMA Corp (Yekaterinburg, Russia), the world’s
largest
titanium producer, and Alcoa, of the US, on 17 June
announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding for co-
operation on the design and production of innovative light-alloy die
forgings and extrusions for the commercial transportation market.
One result of the collaboration may be the development of wide
(up to 27.5") and long (up to 85ft) extrusions made of advanced
aluminium alloys designed for passenger and freight cars, including
next-generation high-speed rail in Russia.
VSMPO-AVISMA, whose global presence includes facilities
in Ukraine, Britain, Switzerland, Germany and the US, does
considerable business with Boeing and Airbus and other aerospace
companies. As well as titanium, the Russian company produces
aluminium, magnesium and steel alloys. Pittsburgh-based Alcoa, the
world’s leading producer of primary and fabricated aluminium, first
entered Russia in 1993. In 2005 it acquired two fabricating facilities
in Samara and Belaya Kalitva. Since then, Alcoa has invested over
$750mn to upgrade its Russian facilities.
Dorothy Fabian
, Features Editor (USA)