Page 43 - Steel Tech India eMagazine Volume April 2022
P. 43

VOL. 16 • NO. 3 • April 2022

                 main driver for the recovery of the construction sector.   2021 and is expected to continue its growth in 2022-23.
                 Residential  construction  might  also get some small   New energy vehicles production jumped by 1.6 times to
                 support from stimulus measures.                    3.55 million units, accounting for 13.6% of total vehicles

                 In  India,  infrastructure  in  four  key  areas  –  national   production in 2021.
                 highways, railways, water infrastructure & government
                 housing will remain the main driver of construction   the recovery in US auto production in 2021 was also
                 growth.  New  projects  in  the  residential  real  estate   severely dampened by supply chain problems. In 2022-
                 segment are also expected to gather pace. In Brazil,   23, pent-up demand is expected to drive the production
                 after robust growth in 2021, the construction sector   of light vehicles.
                 is expected to report moderate growth in 2022 due to
                 the monetary tightening cycle and the US interest rate   While global auto production slumped due to the
                 hikes.                                             pandemic, the eV segment grew exponentially. Global
                                                                    sales of eVs in 2021 reached 6.6 million units, almost
                 A strong rebound in energy prices significantly improves
                 the prospects of the construction sector in oil exporters.   doubling from 2020. the share of eVs in total car sales
                 In  the  Gcc,  construction  activities  are  expected  to   increased from 2.49% in 2019 to 8.57% in 2021. the
                 accelerate with the resumption of construction projects   trend is driven by toughening government regulations
                 that will be further boosted by relaxing budget pressures   against car emissions and will impact other sectors,
                 and easing of cOVID-19 related restrictions.       including the development of relevant infrastructure.

                 Automotive
                                            Table 1: Steel demand forecasts: SRO April 2022, finished steel products
                 the recovery of the global
                                                                     Million               Y-o-Y growth
                 auto industry in 2021 was                           tonnes                  rates,%
                 disappointing as supply     Regions                 2021   2022(f)  2023 (f)  2021    2022 (f)  2023 (f)
                 chain bottlenecks reversed   European Union (27) & UK  163.6  161.5  167.9   16.8      -1.3    4.0
                                             Other Europe             40.2   42.3   44.1      12.0      5.2     4.2
                 the strong momentum seen    Russia & Other CIS + Ukrane  58.5  44.6  45.1    1.5       -23.6   1.1
                 in the first half of the year.   USMCA              136.9  141.0  144.7      20.5      2.9     2.7
                 Auto production contracted   Central and South America  50.7  48.5  50.3     30.7      -4.4    3.9
                                             Africa                   37.4   39.1   40.7      6.4       4.6     4.2
                 in the second half of 2021
                                             Middle East              48.3   50.2   51.7      2.9       3.8     3.2
                 in most countries, and      Asia and Oceania        1298.1  1313.1  1336.8   -1.4      1.2     1.8
                 global  auto   production   World                   1833.7  1840.2  1881.4   2.7       0.4     2.2
                 ended the year with only                                                                    f - forecast
                 marginal growth. Supply    Table  2:  Top  10  steel-using  countries  2021:  SRO  April  2022,  finished  steel
                 chain problems also led to   products
                 reduced choice for buyers
                                                              Million                   Y-o-Y growth
                 and increased prices. It                    tonnes                       rates,%
                 had been expected that the   Countries       2021    2022(f)  2023 (f)    2021      2022 (f)  2023 (f)
                 supply bottlenecks would    China            952.0    952.0    961.6       -5.4      0.0      1.0
                                             India            106.1    114.1    120.9       18.8      7.5      6.0
                 dissipate in the second     United States    97.1     99.8     102.1       21.3      2.8      2.4
                 half of 2022. however, the   Japan           57.5     58.2      58.8       9.3       1.2      1.0
                 war in Ukraine is likely to   South Korea    55.6     56.2      56.8       13.5      1.2      1.0
                                             Russia           43.9     35.1      35.1       3.8       -20.0    0.0
                 delay any return to normal,
                                             Germany          35.2     35.0      37.6       12.9      -0.6     7.6
                 especially in europe.       Turkey           33.4     35.5      37.0       13.2      6.4      4.2
                                             Brazil           26.4     24.2      25.4       23.2      -8.5     5.0
                 In   china,   automobile    Italy            25.9     25.4     26.3       27.1       -2.1     3.5
                 production grew by 4.8% in                                                                  f - forecast

                 Steel tech                                                                                        41
   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48