In its previous October forecast, worldsteel was predicting demand growth of just 1%. However, worldsteel's latest short-range outlook reflects an easing of some of the conditions that are hindering growth. 

Worldsteel economics committee chair and Ternium chief executive Máximo Vedoya said that at the end of 2022, recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic shock was being hampered by high inflation and increasing interest rates, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the lockdowns in China.

“As a result, steel-using sectors’ activity went down in the last quarter of 2022. This, combined with the effect of stock adjustments, led to worse than expected contraction in steel demand.” 

Yet, there have been some positive developments, such as “China’s reopening, Europe’s resilience in the face of the energy crisis, and the easing of supply chain bottlenecks,” worldsteel said. Nevertheless, sustained inflation remains a downside risk, and growth in global steel demand could be hindered by a flat economy in China, it said.

You can find worldsteel’s full forecast here.