Ferro-alloy markets should pick-up in early 2021 following the recovery in the global downstream steel industry, delegates heard at the International Ferroalloys Conference 2020 on November 9.
Amy Bennett, principal consultant at Fastmarkets, expects global ferro-alloys markets to find support early next year amid the recovery in global steel markets, though there has been some disparity in regional recovery paces.
"China was first to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and its steel production rates seem more resilient compared with the rest of the world. China's crude steel production should actually increase by 5% over 2020, which is in contrast with a 3% decline in global output this year," Bennett said.
"Looking forward to 2021, China's crude steel output is forecast to increase by 3-4% and the output from the rest of the world is also expected to rise," Bennett added.
In Europe, the steel-consumption sectors are gradually recovering. For example, the automotive sector, which was hit particularly hard, started to recover in the second half of the year and automotive production is due to...