Stimulating monetary and fiscal government policies have boosted steel production and demand in India and China, the world's two largest producers, in 2018 and is likely to have a positive impact on the industry over the next year.
China's apparent steel consumption rose to 870 million tonnes in 2018, driven by a surge in the real estate sector. According to the China Iron and Steel Industry Association CISA, this figure has increased by at least 15 percent from 730-760 million tons a year in 2013-17.
China's crude steel production increased 6.6 percent in 2018 to 928 million tonnes.
Beijing has stepped up monetary and fiscal policy measures to accelerate infrastructure development and private sector investment to offset the negative economic impact of trade tensions with the United States. As a result, real estate investments and new project launches in China increased by more than 10 percent in January-May, helping to boost sales of steel products.
Likewise, India's finished steel consumption rose 7.5 percent to 97.51 million tonnes in the 2018-19 fiscal year ending March 31.
Increased investment in infrastructure and automobile production is expected to continue to grow at the same rate, leading to an increase in crude steel production to 255 million tonnes by 2030 from 106.56 million tonnes in 2018-19.
India's federal budget last week set a plan for $ 1.25 trillion in infrastructure investments, including railways and highways, power generation and transmission, water supply and more, over the next five years.
However, both China and India face many major challenges, internally and externally, to sustain growth, which could limit growth in steel demand.
