Crude steel production during the first quarter of 2008 dropped by 80 533 t compared with production during the first quarter of 2007.

The Southern African Iron and Steel Institute (Saisi) reports that crude steel production during the first quarter of 2008 recorded
2 194 132 t, while crude steel production during the first quarter of 2007 was 2 274 665 t.

Saisi secretary-general Peter Dieterich says that the loss can be attributed mainly to the hangover from the refurbishment of ArcelorMittal’s blast furnace D in Vanderbijlpark and the refurbishment of its Corex and Midrex furnaces, in Saldhana Bay, as well as energy constraints from power utility Eskom.

Although January and February figures are significantly lower than January and February 2007 figures, statistics gathered by Saisi show that there was some recovery in the back end of the first quarter with March and April producing higher figures than the March and April 2007 figures.

While the energy crisis was expected to affect supply, primary domestic sales of carbon steel were not significantly affected. Research conducted by Saisi on domestic and export carbon steel sales statistics for April this year shows that sales of primary carbon steel into the domestic market amounted to 528 473 t; this is an increase of 82 114 t on April 2007 figures, which came in at 446 359 t.

Research does, however, reflect a decrease in the primary sales of carbon steel into the export market. Initial indications show that 101 103 t of carbon steel was sold into the export market during April this year. This decreased by 44 485 t on sales of carbon steel into the export market during April 2007. Although there is a sig-nificant decrease when com-paring figures from April 2008 to April 2007, sales of carbon steel into the export market during April this year increased by 36 221 t when compared with figures for March 2008.

Despite Saisi members’ indications to customers that steel deliveries would be delayed, on account of the power crisis, the demand for steel has not decreased. Dieterich says that one solution to this is to import steel, but Dieterich warns, however, that imported steel is not always readily available and that long lead times might be a challenge for companies.

Saisi reports that imports of primary carbon and alloy steel products during March this year amounted to 43 971 t, 3,2% drop compared with the 45 432 t imported during February. However, the figure demon-strated an increase of 1 364 t compared with the tonnage imported during March 2007.

Dieterich says that the inter-national steel industry should yield another strong year, where sales will be driven in part by commodity demand in emerging markets such as China and India.

Short-term forecast figures released by the International Iron and Steel Institute show that 2008 will, in fact, be a strong year for the inter-national steel industry. Apparent steel use is expected to increase by 80- million tons, to 1 282-million tons. New projections for 2009 suggest a global growth rate of 6,3%.

China’s apparent steel use is expected to grow by 11,5% in 2008 and a further 10% during 2009, accounting for 35% of the world total in 2008. This is expected to reach 36,7% of the world total by 2009.

For India, forecasts for apparent steel consumption point to an increase of 8,9% in 2008 and 12,1% in 2009.

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