Rising steel prices is good news for some

The difference this time is that now it is Europe which is increasing its steel production and consumption. The prices of various steel products rose by up to 42% since the beginning of the year. In Poland steel consumption is on the rise and imports rose 42% in May yoy due to higher demand in the construction sector fuelled by new investments and an increase in mortgage loans. Andrzej Ciepiela, the director of the Polish Union of Steel Distributors, claims that the increase of steel prices will not be as spectacular as in 2004, because the merger of Mittal Steel with Arcelor should stabilize the market.Polish steel distributors (like Stalprofil, Centrostal Gdansk and Drozapol) achieved very good Q2 results. The last one hit a record 9000% increase in operational profit compared to Q1. (Puls Biznesu, p. 5) J.L.