The World Steel Association (worldsteel) forecasted steel demands in 2022 and 2023 will increase by 0.4% to 1.84 billion tons and by 2.2% to 1.88 billion tons respectively. Because of the Russia-Ukraine war and global inflation, the current outlook of the steel market is uncertain.

In terms of developing economies, excluding China, steel demand in 2021 grew by 10.7%; however, the demand in 2022 was expected to only increase by 0.5% due to the worsening external environment and the Russia-Ukraine war and would rise by 4.5% in 2023.

In the advanced economies, inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war led the demand to merely grow by 1.1% and 2.4% in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The investment in the energy transition will likely make the global construction industry grow a few years down the road despite increasing costs and interest rates. In terms of the automotive industry, especially in Europe, the supply chain might have to take a while to recover due to the war in Ukraine.