UAE Government Update On Steel Exports.

A new study by the Ministry of Foreign Trade has revealed that the UAE’s steel exports in 2009 accounted for 6.2% of the country’s non oil exports ranking third in the harmonized commodity system compared with 1.5% for steel re exports. Steel also accounted for 3.8% of the UAE’s total imports.

The UAE ranked as the world’s 29th biggest steel exporter and came only after Turkey in the Middle East, meaning it is the largest Arab exporter of steel products which accounted for 0.8% of the world’s total steel products in 2009.

The UAE ranked 14th as the world’s largest importer of steel products and 2nd after Turkey in the Middle East and also 2nd, after Algeria among Arab countries with the country’s share reaching 2% of the total world’s steel imports in 2009.

The study noted that the UAE’s accounted for 66.8% of the total steel exports of the Gulf Cooperation Council which reached USD 2.6 billion and also for 41.8% of the bloc’s total steel imports which reached USD 11.2 billion. Processing industries are among the most important ingredients of the UAE’s non oil sector and accounted for 16.2% of the country’s GDP in 2009 ranking only second after mining industries.

The UAE’s total steel trade in the first 10 months of 2010 reached USD 3.257 billion compared to USD 6.385 billion in the whole year of 2009 and USD 6.624 billion in 2008 despite a decrease of 24.4% in qualities. In 2009, the country’s steel re exports decreased by 8.2% to USD 613 million compared with figures of 2008 while imports decreased by 17.2% over 2008 to reach USD 4.7 billion in 2009.

Figures on the year 2009 showed that 91.7% of the UAE’s steel products go to ten countries with Qatar receiving as much as 77.7% of them followed by the US, Oman and Singapore ie the four said countries receive 86.5% of the UAE’s total steel exports.

These top ten importers received USD 79 million in steel from the UAE, accounting for 4.6% of the total UAE’s exports in 2009. Five Arab countries were among the major destination of UAE’s steel exports while the US, who was among the top 10 importers in 2008 and 2009 was also the second largest importer during these two years. The UK and Singapore joined the list in 2009.

The study showed that Iran imported 24.5% of the UAE’s total steel re exports in 2009, followed by Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Oman and India. Regarding imports, Saudi Arabia joined the list of the top UAE’s steel importers in 2008 and 2009 replacing Turkey.

Global crude steel output rose 15% in 2010 to 1.4 billion tones, a new record, according to the World Steel Association in a report last January. World crude steel production reached 1,414 million tonnes for the year of 2010. This is an increase of 15% compared to 2009 and is a new record for global crude steel production.

All the major steel producing countries and regions showed double digit growth in 2010. The EU and North America had higher growth rates due to the lower base effect from 2009 while Asia and the CIS recorded relatively lower growth.

In December 2010, world crude steel production for the 66 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 116.2 million tonnes an increase of 7.8% compared to December 2009. The crude steel capacity utilization ratio of the 66 countries in December 2010 declined slightly to 73.8% compared to 75.2% in November 2010. Compared to December 2009, the utilization ratio in December 2010 is 1.1 percentage point higher.

Global steel imports decreased by 24% in 2009 to USD 235 billion down to USD 312 billion in 2008 in the wake of the global financial crisis. Ten countries imported USD 98 billion in steel products in 2009 accounting for 42% of the global steel trade with the US on the top of the list followed by Germany, France and China. The four countries accounted for 27% of the total steel imports.

Global steel exports in 2009, totaled USD 227 billion down from USD 307 in 2008. The average growth rate of steel exports between 2005 and 2009 was 9%. The value of steel exports of the top ten countries totaled USD 138 billion accounting for as mush as 61% of the global steel exports in 2009.

Source : steelguru.com