ArcelorMittal sees demand for steel in India and China rising
16 Sep 2009
The world's largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, today said that it sees a demand for steel growing in India and China, while the US and European markets will continue to be bogged down under the weight of the global recession into 2010.
Lakshmi Mittal, CEO, ArcelorMittal, told investors that ArcelorMittal has raised its forecast for demand in China this year while the company sees a significant growth potential in India driven by continued growth in infrastructure and urbanization.
The Indian steel market was larger than the US market during the first half of 2009 and ArcelorMittal said that it is poised to sell 1.6 mt of steel in India in 2009.
The Luxemburg-based company said that the domestic demand for steel in China would go up by more than 15 per cent this year on the back of the stimulus spending initiated by Beijing, but level out in 2010. The company had earlier forecast a 10-per cent growth in demand for steel in China this year.
The demand for steel has rocketed in the first half in China due to infrastructure spending as well as demand from the automobile and construction industry.
China's steel output rose for the fifth consecutive month in August as it surged 22 per cent year-on-year to a record 52.3 million tonnes in the same month.