Global steel industry shows signs of recovery: WSA

The global steel industry is showing early signs of recovery from the economic crisis since in June 2009, almost all countries saw slight improvement in crude steel production compared to the previous nine months, said the World Steel Association (WSA).

Steel producers in Japan, Russia, Turkey, India and other major steelmaking countries have also seen a rise in demand, said the world steel body.

ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal, who is the chairman of WSA, is optimistic about the prospects for a steady improvement in global demand for steel. In an interview with the UK's Financial Times last week, Mittal predicted that world steel demand would pick up by at least 10 per cent next year.

"The emerging economies are coming out of the downturn reasonably quickly," he said. In China, steel use could increase by more than 10 per cent. "I am projecting a good improvement in the position for the steel industry next year compared to 2009," said Mittal.

With demand likely to pick up in the automobile and infrastructure sector in India, the country's biggest steel manufacturer, Tata Steel, had earlier this month, increased prices of its flat products in select spot markets by Rs500 to Rs1,000 a tonne, while in April-May, it had increased prices of its long products by Rs1,000 a tonne.

While addressing the media at a function in New Delhi on Saturday, 29 August, B Muthuraman MD of Tata Steel said, "if the demand is good, if the economy improves, then prices of steel might still go up."