Global Steel Consumption Impacted by Lull in Construction Activity

The weak construction sector activities on account of Covid-19 pandemic crisis impacted the steel consumption by world countries during 2020, said the latest Short Range Outlook April 2021 report published by the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

The construction output by world countries witnessed 3.9% decline during the previous year. This is even higher than the 1.9% fall in output reported in 2009 following the global financial crisis. The restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the virus resulted in widespread interruption of construction works in several countries. The developing countries were forced to reallocate sums of money originally meant for infrastructure projects to pandemic support initiatives.

The construction sector activities in the Philippines, India and Mexico were most badly hit. To Meantime, the sector has returned to near-normal in China by April last year and has been showing steady signs of improvement thereafter.

The ‘new normal’ following the pandemic is likely to result in huge fall in demand for commercial buildings and travel-related facilities. The global construction sector is expected to rebound to 2019 level only by 2022, noted SRO.