"Russia is the 2nd largest steel exporter (followed by China) and 5th largest steel producer in the world. As per the World Steel Association, Russia had produced 76 million tonnes (MT) in calendar year (CY) 2021 and had exported 32 MT of steel in CY 2020 followed by 51 MT of steel exported from China. During CY20, Ukraine too had exported 15 MT of steel to the world and had produced 21 MT. (Refer Table 1). As a result, the disruption or exclusion of steel exports from these two nations to an extent will likely have an impact on international supply situation and thus leading to increased prices," CareEdge has noted.
The steel consumption surpassed the pre Covid-19 level of 86 MT during April-January 2020 and stood at 87 metric tonnes during April-January. This is on account of an estimated increase in demand from sectors like construction, automobiles etc.