According to Kiplinger Business Forecasts, global economic growth will soften next year, but not enough to seriously affect the rising demand for steel. Prices of widely used galvanized and stainless products, in particular, are going to hold fairly steady through summer, fueling more mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies in steel-intensive industry such as auto parts, furniture, construction and appliances. Recent price volatility in steel and other metals markets comes as some traders begin to fear a marked decline in demand next year. Their worries center on whether China's breakneck pace of industrial production is headed for an abrupt crash. But economic signals from China do not support this view. Kiplinger expects that country's gross domestic product growth to moderate to about 8% next year from 9.1% this year. China will continue to buy vast amounts of imported scrap metal, coke and coal to feed domestic steel plants, creating global shortages of these key products and keeping steel prices high in the US and elsewhere.
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