A full recovery from the worst ever crisis for the global steel industry may take as long as five years, says the head of Japan’s second-largest steelmaker, who is predicting an acceleration in industry-wide consolidation.
Eiji Hayashida, chief executive of JFE Holdings, said market conditions are expected to improve after China started to shut down steel factories to address excess industrial capacity.
But he said it was premature to assume a recent short-term rise in Chinese steel prices would lead to an immediate recovery in global demand. Chinese mills have been accused of compounding sluggish demand by dumping surplus steel on to international markets.