Quarterly Report – July 2019

Large infrastructure projects in the GCC countries are promising exciting opportunities for the precision stainless steel market. The market is expected to witness impressive demand from the Middle East and Africa owing to the increasing manufacturing and export of precision automotive components from Turkey.

Stainless steel scrap looks set to maintain its uptrend owing to the rising consumer base for the construction and transportation sectors specifically in the UAE, Kuwait, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Indeed, the construction and infrastructure sectors are key contributors to the overall growth of the stainless steel market.

Qatar had embarked on a massive infrastructure development plan, estimated at US$ 200 billion, after it was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup in December 2010. While we had expected growth in the building and construction sectors to slow as the event approached, it is surprising to see an outright decline in output, although this may prove temporary. The fastest-growing sectors in the second quarter of 2019 were hotels & restaurants (+7.4% year on year) and transport & storage (+5.3%).

Nickel’s value has increased by more than US$ 3600 per tonne (or 34%) since the beginning of 2019 and forecasts are for a progressive rise from an average of US$ 14,500 in 2019 to US$ 16,250 in 2020.