Edwin Basson, director-general of the World Steel Association, said global Steel demand was expected to grow steadily for a long time, at a compound annual rate of 1 per cent, with Chinese demand already at its peak."Overall, we can see positive growth in steel demand and a greater shift towards developing countries." 

Mr Bassen said. "The steel market is very strong and we expect demand to grow slightly from the current 1.7bn tonnes a year." He said.Mr Bassen forecasts a steady rise in global steel demand to 2bn tonnes by 2040.Earlier this week, the world steel association forecast that global steel demand would rise 1.3 per cent to 1.735bn tonnes in 2019, down from 2.1 per cent last year, which was led by Chinese demand.

The world steel association forecasts global steel demand at 1.752 billion tonnes in 2020, up 1 per cent year-on-year, while Chinese demand is expected to fall 1 per cent."Chinese steel demand has peaked." Mr Bassen said.Still, Chinese steel production is growing. 

China produced 80.33 million tons of crude steel in March, up 10 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the national bureau of statistics on April 17. Production is expected to increase further in April as the end of winter production cuts and end-user demand increase."China's steel demand will plateau over the long term." Mr Bassen said.Bassen said the recent increase in production could increase China's crude steel output to 949 million tons in 2019 from 929 million tons in 2018. 

China plans to add more than 60m tonnes of new steelmaking capacity through capacity swaps as the government steps up controls on the industry.Demand for finished steel in China has peaked at 860m tonnes, Mr Bassen said. He said the gap between production and demand meant China would continue to be an exporter of steel, although exports were more stable than in the past. This year, China will export 60-80 million tons of steel.Although demand for steel in India is growing fast, with both 2019 and 2020 expected to exceed 7%, it is not enough to support the market, according to the international iron and steel association.

 "Global markets will only get a boost if there is more demand from Africa, which is not expected for the next few years." He said.Mr Bassen said increased protectionism in the global steel industry could lead to greater regionalisation of steel trade and use.He said efforts are under way to tackle global overcapacity, including the g20's global overcapacity BBS and China's plans to cut production and restructure. Mr Bhasen said global overcapacity had fallen from 760m tonnes in the past three years to the latest estimate of 540m tonnes.（Excerpts from csteel news)