Steel demand to remain strong in 2008

By Humeyra Pamuk

LONDON (Reuters) - Global steel demand is showing no sign of a slowdown and is expected to remain strong at least until mid-year, a steel industry official told Reuters on Monday.

"Things are going very strongly in the steel intensive sectors of the economy," said Ian Christmas, secretary-general of the International Institute of Iron and Steel (IISI), at the Reuters Global Mining Summit in London.

"In North America there is some softness in things like automotive and domestic appliances, but not enough to take away optimism for the first six months of this year," Christmas said.

Fears of a recession in the United States, the world's largest economy, and a possible spillover has weighed on global financial markets since August last year.

Christmas said global steel use grew by about 5-6 percent last year and he expected a similar growth rate for 2008, with Chinese demand rising around 10 percent.

"China is the one factor which continues to drive the global number and has the big influence," Christmas said and added that demand from the other so-called BRIC countries -- Brazil, Russia and India -- was expected to remain robust.

For the second half of the year, opinions were divided, Christmas said.

"Some say it is going to be a very good year altogether while some say consumer confidence in certain states in western Europe will have an impact on steel consuming sectors and there is a risk of a downturn," he said.  Continued...