China's insatiable lust for steel to be satiated by 2008

[dArKeR]

China's insatiable lust for steel is likely to fall off sharply after the 2008 Olympics in Beijing as the nation's steelmakers face overcapacity amid fierce global competition, industry experts say.

Within a few years the country's consumption trends will be more in line with those of the developed world meaning that production, set to come online in the coming years, could find itself underutilized, said Neville Tindale, Asia-Pacific president of Canadian engineering firm Hatch Beddows.

"The growth we've seen over the past two or three years, approaching 20 percent a year, can't be sustained forever though the outlook is still very positive, particularly in the short-term," he said. "It will still grow but that growth will level out if we look, certainly beyond the Olympics in 2008, if not before."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2003/10/27/2003073598

[phaseolus]

1. Bad news for U.S. steel producers

...such that remain.

Even *more* oversupply on the world market, lower prices, more job losses here in the states.

And of course, with lower priced steel, auto makers & others will be passing on their savings to the consumer, right? ha ha ha

[TrogL]

2. Where are they buying their steel from now?

South Korea is mentioned, at least obliquely. I would suspect some would be from Germany, especially finer steels for tools and instruments. A Canadian is mentioned, but with the greenback falling like a rock, I suspect US steel would become more affordable.