India among fastest-growing steel market as global prices rise: Goldman Sachs

India emerged as one of the fastest-growing steel markets as global steel prices rose across major regions in April and early May, according to a Goldman Sachs report. In its “Global Steel: The Steel Market Barometer – May Update”, Goldman Sachs said average hot rolled coil (HRC) prices increased across nearly all major markets in April, led by Brazil with a 10 per cent month-on-month rise, followed by Japan at 6.5 per cent and China at 2.9 per cent. “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 report said, as quoted by ANI.India continued to show strong rise within this global uptrend, with crude steel production rising 11 per cent year-on-year in March, compared with 10 per cent year-to-date growth and 7 per cent in February, the report said. Meanwhile, long steel prices also firmed in April across key regions, with Brazil recording a 12 per cent rise in rebar prices, followed by Europe at 6.9 per cent and the Black Sea region at 6.1 per cent. On the supply side, China’s steel output continued to contract, falling 3.2 per cent year-on-year in the first two weeks of May. Commenting on the sector, Goldman Sachs said, “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.” Region-wise trends showed mixed performance across major producers. Europe’s crude steel output rose 16 per cent month-on-month in March, though it remained lower year-on-year and on a year-to-date basis. In the US, average weekly steel production increased 3 per cent in April, while utilisation rates averaged 79.6 per cent. Goldman Sachs added that infrastructure activity in China remained resilient despite weakness in the property sector, while manufacturing improved and construction softened. It projected broadly stable steel prices across major global markets through 2026, with US prices expected to remain stronger than those in Europe, China and Brazil.