Worldsteel lowers global steel demand outlook as China’s downturn delays recovery

The World Steel Association (worldsteel) has released its October Short Range Outlook, forecasting that global steel demand will remain essentially unchanged at 1.722 billion mt in 2026 before increasing by 1.7 percent to 1.752 billion mt in 2027. The latest projections compare with the April forecast of 0.3 percent growth in 2026 and 2.2 percent in 2027. China remains the main drag on global demand Worldsteel attributed most of the downward revision to China, where the property downturn has persisted and infrastructure investment has failed to provide the anticipated support, while manufacturing growth has been insufficient to offset weakness in…