UK, Sheffield based market analysts, MEPS predicts that reported global steel output will be almost 1.6bnt this year. Production cuts in most regions of the world will be more than offset by strong activity in China.

MEPS believe that steelmaking in the EU will decline to 163Mt in 2013, a reduction of 3.3% year-on-year. Crude steel output, in the CIS and Other Europe, is projected to be just above 147Mt - a decline of 2.6% from the 2012 level.

Steelmaking in North America is expected to move below 120Mt, a 3.1% decrease arising from a reduced outturn in all the three NAFTA members.

In South America this year output is forecast at 46.2Mt - relatively unchanged from the 2012 level. Steel manufacturing in Africa is forecast to slip this year to 15.2Mt. This equates to a decline of 0.9%, compared with 2012.

Another record steel output figure is forecast for 2013 in the Middle East. At 26.9Mt this will be the fifteenth consecutive annual rise in production.

Reported Asian steel manufacturing should be approximately 1.07bnt in 2013. This equates to an increase of 5.9% year-on-year and is heavily dominated by output in China.

In October, worldsteel’s Economic Committee forecast global apparent steel use will increase by 3.1% to 1475Mt in 2013 following growth of 2.0% in 2012. In 2014, it is forecast that world steel demand will grow further by 3.3% and to reach 1523Mt.