Global Trade And Economic News: New EU Tariffs And Expectations For Global Steel Demand
- As Reuters reported, beginning April 13, the European Commission began imposing provisional tariffs on aluminum flat-rolled products from China. The duties were set between 19.3 percent and 46.7 percent and will apply while the investigation (which is set to conclude in October 2021) continues. Read more here.
- The World Steel Association (WSA) expects global steel demand to increase 5.8 percent in 2021 to 1.874 billion tons. That estimate is up from a previously-predicted 4.1 percent rise. The WSA said it expects global steel demand to increase 2.7 percent in 2022. Read more here.
- Meanwhile, Argus Media reported Japan’s crude steel output is forecast to increase sharply during April-June from the pandemic depressed levels. Specifically, crude steel output is projected to rise by 28 percent from the second quarter of 2020 in Japan and two percent from the first quarter of 2021.
- The Chinese economy grew by a record 18.3 percent in the first quarter of 2021 from the same period in 2020. That reading was much higher than the 6.5 percent year-over-year growth rate posted in the last quarter of 2020, but slightly less than the 18.5 percent forecast by analysts. Compared to the last quarter of 2020, China’s economy grew 0.6 percent quarter-to-quarter.
- Chinese trade data also was strong last quarter. As Manufacturing.net reports, exports rose 30.6 percent from March 2020 and March 2021 while imports were up 38.1 percent. Exports to the United States advanced 53.6 percent while imports were up 74.7 percent.