ArcelorMittal Is Forecasting Growth of Between 9%~10% Annually

It is reported that ArcelorMittal is forecasting growth of between 9%~10% annually in the Chinese auto steel demand.

The general manager of ArcelorMittal is quoted saying demand for auto sheet in China reached 13 million~14 million tons last year and we see growth of 1million~1.5 million tons per annum in coming years.

In order to take advantage of this expected growth, ArcelorMittal and China's Hunan Valin Steel Co set up a joint venture for automotive steel called Valin ArcelorMittal Auto Steel Co Ltd in 2010.

This joint venture is expected to start production in mid-2014 with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tons, the company aims to gain about 10 percent domestic market share by 2016.

Even with the global overcapacity of steel production, China still imports roughly 1 million~1.5 million tons of auto steel per year from Japan and Korea.

China currently is the world's top automaker and is likely to produce 20 million vehicles this year and 35 million vehicles by 2020.