Experts say a contraction in the global economy, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, will cause a sharp decline in steel demand in 2020–2021, Financial Express reports.
In its annual report, U.K. steelmaking company Tata Steel said the global economy is on the brink of the worst contraction since the 1930s — projected to be more than 3 percent in 2020. According to Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Steel, this is the first time since the Great Depression that both advanced and developing economies are in recession together.
“Global GDP growth eased to 2.9 percent in 2019, against an initial growth projection of 3.5 percent,” said Chandrasekaran in an annual report for 2019–2020. “As we look ahead, it is important to gauge COVID-19’s unprecedented impact on the global economy.”
Global crude steel production reached 1,870 million tonnes in 2019, representing a growth rate of 3.4 percent in 2019 compared with 4.6 percent the pr