These steel numbers are a reminder of how China is an utter Goliath of global metals consumption.
It's an uncertain time for China's economy but Worldsteel forecasts that steel demand in 2022 fell 4.0% y/y and is expected to be flat in 2023.
What's staggering is that a 4.0% decline in China output is 38 million tonnes (from 952 mT to 914 mT); while that is a drop in the bucket domestically, it's equivalent to 38% of US production or all of Germany steel production.
Aside from that, these numbers are are good idea of where there's expansion expected in 2023 -- India, Turkey and Brazil.
