The World Steel Association (worldsteel) lowered its forecast of the global steel demand growth to 0.4% (around 1.84 billion tons) in 2022, compared to the previously forecasted growth of 2.2%.

However, the US steel mill Nucor Corporation stated that the overall end demand for steel is strong.

Nucor and Steel Dynamics both produce steel frames, steel plates, piles, and fences for construction and achieved outstanding sales performance in the first quarter. They believed that the European and American markets are gradually recovering.

On the contrary, China is a large steel producer and consumption country, and the pandemic outbreak is continuing to grow and the lockdown time was extended repeatedly. The international futures price of steel began to decline. Some market participants stated that the Chinese market recovery depends on the pandemic situation.