India's steel market continues to grow at one of the quickest rates in the world, Goldman Sachs said in a report. The country's crude steel production increased by 11% year-on-year in March, up from 10% in the first half of the year and 7% in February.
On the other hand, China's steel production remained under pressure due to the delayed implementation of capacity limits, while global steel prices continued to rise across major markets in April and early May, it said.
According to Goldman Sachs' most recent "Global Steel: The Steel Market Barometer - May Update" study, average hot rolled coil (HRC) prices rose in April in nearly every major region, with Brazil leading the way with a 10% month-over-month increase, followed by Japan at 6.5% and China at 2.9%.
"On a YTD basis, Brazil's HRC steel price performance has been the strongest in our sample (+21%), followed by the US (+15%), with other regions also showing price increases from 6%-13%," the survey stated.
In April, long steel prices increased globally as well. Brazil once again saw the biggest month-over-month increase in rebar prices at 12%, followed by Europe at 6.9% and the Black Sea region at 6.1%, according to Goldman Sachs.
Regarding supply, the report stated that during the first two weeks of May, China's steel production continued to decline annually. According to Goldman Sachs, China's steel production decreased 3.2% year over year from the same time the previous year.
Goldman Sachs stated, "On the industry level, while the anti-involution effort and long-term capacity cut plan for the Chinese steel sector remain intact, we see delayed execution in 2026E in terms of both capacity and production discipline."
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Divergent tendencies among the major economies that produce steel were also highlighted in the paper.
Crude steel production in Europe rose 16% month over month in March, although it was still down 3% year over year and year to date.
In April, utilisation rates averaged 79.6%, improving both sequentially and annually, while average weekly steel production in the US increased by 3% month over month.
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The research also pointed out that despite the slump in the real estate market, infrastructure activities in China continued to be reasonably solid. According to Goldman Sachs, during the first three months of 2026, infrastructure spending increased 8.9% year over year, excluding water and power supply.
The research states that while construction activity declined in March, manufacturing activity in China increased, indicating unequal demand trends within the larger steel-consuming industries.
Additionally, Goldman Sachs predicted that steel prices in major international markets would stay comparatively steady for the remainder of 2026, with US steel prices continuing to be higher than those in Europe, China, and Brazil. (Inputs from ANI)
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