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    Overseas

    April 5, 2020

    CRU: Expect a 22 Percent Drop in Steel Sheet Demand

    Written by Tim Triplett

    CRU is forecasting that North American steel sheet prices will find a bottom sometime this summer, but will remain volatile while supply and demand gradually rebalance as the coronavirus crisis subsides.

    CRU projects steel consumption will decline by 22 percent this year as a result of virus-related shutdowns in automotive and other key manufacturing industries. Adding to the weak steel demand is the low price of oil, which has put the brakes on drilling activity in North America’s energy sector and on orders of oil country tubular goods. In response, various mills have idled furnaces and curtailed operations in an attempt to quickly cut steel output.

    Tim Triplett

    Read more from Tim Triplett

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