At the World Steel Association's (worldsteel) 45th annual meeting held in Paris on October 12, Daniel Novegil, chairman of the worldsteel economics committee and CEO of Luxembourg-headquartered steelmaker Ternium, indicated that apparent steel use in the US is predicted to increase by 11.6 percent in 2011.
In 2012, steel use in the US is expected to grow by 5.2 percent to 93.8 million mt, bringing it back to 87 percent of the 2007 level. While apparent steel use is supported by the automotive and machinery industries, construction still lags behind.
For NAFTA as a whole, Novegil estimates apparent steel use will rise by nine percent to 120.9 million mt in 2011 and by 4.9 percent to 126.8 million mt in 2012. In 2012, apparent steel use of NAFTA is expected to be 11 percent lower than pre-crisis levels.