The Chinese steel market transformation influenced by the economic recession

Abstract

Since the beginning of 2020, sharp changes in China's economy have affected virtually all sectors of the country's production. Temporary decline in China's steel production and demand due to the coronavirus outbreak and associated restrictions may lead to the increased production of these goods in other countries and increased steel stocks stored in warehouses, which would have a negative impact on the world steel prices. The virus concentration in China, following a high steel production growth and exports since 2003, has created a demand vacuum throughout the region. At the same time, the world steel stocks are quite high and can compensate for the decline in steel production in China, which will affect the market transformation in whole. However, it should be borne in mind that the Industrial Revolution penetrates the entire added value chain, defining a set of technological solutions in metallurgy, which improves the prospects for further industry development and strengthening positions after a stagnation period. In this context, the dynamics of major economic indicators with regard to steel in China is relevant to study, which will allow to determine the short-term metallurgy development trends and the world steel market dynamics in general.