Judging from the forecast changes in steel demand in major regions of the world, in 2022, affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the economic downturn, steel consumption in Asia, Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States and South America will all show a downward trend. Among them, the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States were most directly affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the economic development of the countries in the region was severely frustrated, and the steel consumption fell by 8.8% year-on-year. Steel consumption in North America, Africa, the Middle East, and Oceania showed an upward trend, with year-on-year growth of 0.9%, 2.9%, 2.1%, and 4.5% respectively. In 2023, it is expected that the demand for steel products in CIS countries and Europe will continue to decline, while the demand for steel products in other regions will increase slightly.
From the perspective of changes in the steel demand pattern in various regions, in 2023, the proportion of steel demand in Asia will still rank first in the world, maintaining at about 71%; the proportion of steel demand in Europe and North America will continue to maintain the second and third in the world Among them, the proportion of steel demand in Europe will decrease by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year to 10.7%, and the proportion of steel demand in North America will increase by 0.3 percentage points to 7.5% year-on-year. In 2023, the proportion of steel demand in the Commonwealth of Independent States will decrease to 2.8%, comparable to that of the Middle East; the proportion of steel demand in Africa and South America will increase to 2.3% and 2.4% respectively.
On the whole, according to the analysis of global and regional economic development and steel demand, the global steel demand is expected to reach 1.801 billion tons in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 0.4%.