Billet producers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have become more active in export markets this year amid a slowdown of construction activity in the region, Fastmarkets has learnt.
Steel demand in the Middle East is expected to shrink by 4.6% in 2019, according to estimates from the World Steel Association (Worldsteel). And the lower demand at home this year has meant that GCC billet is increasingly finding a home in the rapidly growing Asian markets.Oman was the second largest exporter of semi-finished steel products to Thailand in January-September this year, accounting for 25.1% of the Southeast Asian country's total imports, or 271,430 tonnes. Bahrain was the fourth-largest source of these products for Thailand in the same period, accounting for 5.3% of imports, or 53,624 tonnes, according to data from the Thai Ministry of Commerce.This is partially due to the slowdown in GCC construction stemming from reduced government spending in some member countries, the completion of the majority of development projects dedicated to 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, the Expo 2020 in Dubai and an oversupplied property market...