Regional construction projects will continue to stimulate Middle East steel demand - Fastmarkets survey

Large regional construction projects will remain the main driver of steel demand in the Middle East in the medium term, steel sector professionals told Fastmarkets in a survey ahead of the 23nd Middle East Iron & Steel Conference in Dubai later this month.

Infrastructure construction in Qatar for the 2022 Football World Cup and in the United Arab Emirates related to the Dubai Expo 2020 exhibition is close to completion. Thereafter, key drivers of steel consumption in the region will relate largely to the Saudi Vision 2030 plan and to Neom - a new city to be built in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
The construction of Neom alone will require the consumption of around 4 million tonnes of steel during the next 7-10 years, according to George Matta, chief marketing officer at Ezz Steel, the largest steel producer in Egypt.
But investment projects in Saudi Arabia - the second largest steel-producing and -consuming country in the region - will increase year-on-year growth in steel consumption by only 1-2% over the next two to three years, according to the survey.

In 2019, steel demand in the Middle East will total 47.9 million tonnes, down from 50.3 million tonnes...

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