Mr Peter Marsh of FT said that the steel industry faces tough times with companies braced for falling prices as buyers delay orders because of extreme nervousness about global economic weakness.

The expected drop in prices threatens the outlook for profits at some of the biggest steelmakers just as their chief executives gather in Paris for the annual meetings of the World Steel Association. Behind the gloom are worries about the build up of government debt in the US and Europe, coupled with the sense that the eurozone crisis could be about to worsen in the wake of a default by Greece.

There are concerns about Chinese demand too as inflationary pressures have forced Beijing into cutting back on the supply of credit, slowing the growth of steel consumption in China. The country has been the chief locomotive in driving up the expansion of the global industry.

Mr Bruno Bolfo chairman of Duferco said that "Prices for some grades of steel in Europe are at a disastrous level and are either at or only just above companies' break even position. Buyers are staying out of the market because they think prices may go down even more."

Mr Sajjan Jindal CEO of JSW said that he foresaw the turbulence spilling over into 2012, a year he said was likely to be marked by short term economic and financial issues impacting long term economic sustainability.

Weakening demand for steel by volume the world’s biggest selling industrial commodity, used in sectors from construction to automotive is expected to feed through to only subdued production increases during the remainder of 2011. Underlining the difficulties for the sector, the composite share price of all the world's listed steel makers has underperformed global stock markets by 30% in 2011.

According to a survey for the Financial Times by six industry experts, growth in world steel shipments is set to slow to 4.9% in 2012 after a likely 6.6% in 2011.