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

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

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

Turkish producers of long products are still experiencing problems. They wait until demand in the EU improves. Otherwise, as Chinese exports continue, Turkish factories will be forced to cut production even further.

The trade association describes the situation in the EU long products sector as “total stagnation”. This state of affairs has existed for about a year now and there are no signs of improvement. Despite lower interest rates, investment is still low, and most cutting and bending factories have spare capacity, which was not the case before. In addition, imports are significantly reduced by new protective measures and CBAM.

In the US the situation is more favorable for producers. There is a growing demand from infrastructure, commercial construction projects and sustainable energy projects. In terms of prices, imports are not more attractive to consumers because U.S. factories have sufficient capacity to meet domestic demand, and foreign supplies are subject to appropriate duties.

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

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