Reuters cited Mr Ian Christmas director general of the World Steel Association as saying that China and other emerging economies will drive global steel production to new records this year.
He said that even though monetary tightening measures may curb growth in China and other emerging countries, steel production in these regions will continue to outpace output from developed economies.
He added that "Some people I spoke to today talked about softening of the market here, but the reality is that there is still a pretty strong growth for steel."
Mr Christmas said "There is no doubt that as the Chinese economy matures there will be some slowdown in the steel growth and steel intensity, but we have been saying that for a few years now and it is yet to occur. We are talking about numbers of 5%, 6%, 7% growth in China."
He said that despite the destruction, the Japanese steel industry is likely to go back to pre-recession steel production soon. He added that "The Japanese are pretty resourceful people so I suspect relatively quickly supply issues will be resolved. So I am an optimist about the consequences for economic growth."
Imports to the country are unlikely to rise, because domestic demand will be lower in the short term as the domestic manufacturing industry is affected by power cuts.
Mr Christmas said Japan steel exports are likely to be hurt, however and producers in other parts of Asia may fill the supply gap left by the Japanese steel industry, if they can reach similar quality standards. He said that the Japan steel industry is leading the way in terms of consolidation.
He added that "Of course the weak profitability of the companies meant that no one has been able to make acquisitions. But I am convinced that mergers will be back, adding that consolidation will speed up especially in China.”
He also said "We will see emerging in five years some very large and important steelmakers in the world."
( source: www.steelguru.com )