The Arab Iron & Steel Union (AISU) held its annual summit in Tunis, Tunisia, on November 27-28. Here are four things that Fastmarkets learnt at the event:
Mena region steel consumption
Steel consumption in the Middle East-North Africa (Mena) region is expected to rise to 41 million tonnes in 2020, compared with 40 million tonnes in 2019, AISU secretary-general Kamel Djoudi said.
The key driver of higher steel usage will be stable oil prices, the income from which supports government investments in infrastructure and new construction projects, speakers said during the conference.
The largest new construction project is Neom, a new city to be built in northwestern Saudi Arabia. This is expected to consume 4 million tonnes of steel during the next 7-10 years, according to George Matta, chief marketing officer with Ezz Steel, the largest steel producer in Egypt.
"As a result of
trade [protection] measures and prices bouncing back in the second half 2019, we are going to see an improvement in steel demand," Matta said.
Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar),...