News Room - Steel Industry

Posted on 23 Aug 2007

BlueScope forecasts increased steel demand in Australia

Mr Kirby Adams outgoing CEO of BlueScope Steel expects steel demand to grow in Australia in line with state government spending on infrastructure projects.

While releasing the results Mr Kirby said "If you go to build a new project, you can not get a crane. That is the best evidence I can give you about the underlying demand that is coming through the system on industrial, commercial and infrastructure projects in Australia."

Mr Adams also said that "If you look at the laundry list of projects that the governments have coming down the pipe whether it is in road, rail, transport, ports, hospitals, schools, it is a lot of spending that it going to drive steel into non dwelling applications."

Mr Adams said "This year, the global steel market was very strong with the forecast for global steel demand remaining positive. China, the USA and Europe are driving this healthy outlook. Asia now produces more than half of all the crude steel produced in the world, and China is the largest single market for steel and has the strongest demand growth of any country. While the Chinese government has been working to close and eliminate inefficient mills and reduce exports through its recent export tax, these initiatives have not significantly slowed production growth nor reduced the global effect of exports."

Mr Adams added that "Asian markets and opportunities are slightly improved and the operational ramp up of new sites is growing revenue while coated product margins continue to be under pressure, particularly in China." However Mr Adams warned that while the Chinese government has been working to eliminate inefficient mills and reduce exports through its export tax, these initiatives had not significantly slowed production growth nor reduced the global effect of exports.