It’s been five years of significant turbulence in the world economy. After a recovery in international trade in 2017, economic conditions started deteriorating in the second half of 2018 and further in 2019, due to trade tensions between the United States of America and China, fears of a disorderly Brexit in Europe, and a negative global output outlook more generally.
The reaction in trade in 2020 was consistent with the escalating global COVID-19 pandemic and steps taken by individual countries/territories in controlling or mitigating it. After a fragile recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic in the 2021 year, the world economy in 2022 is facing market conditions of a “perfect storm”.
Geopolitical, market and financial volatility can generate unintended and unpredictable consequences, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s response providing a dramatic illustration of how combustible that combination can be.
The cable making industry is heavily affected by the actions of governments and businesses around the world. The impact of COVID-19 includes a shortage of subcontractors and materials, supply chain disruptions, and the termination of contracts to control expenses. Recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities resulted in a number of serious operational challenges.
For now, cable makers, and not only them, have to operate under conditions of fast price increases of commodities and services. As result, the cost of producing cables has increased significantly, so they are forced to pass part or all of the additional cost to the consumers. The world cannot continue to absorb this type of escalation, so something has to happen, and some actions need to be reinforced.
Given the importance of the use of steel in a wide spectrum of economic activities, this research paper is focused on providing an overview of the current market conditions of steel and a short term forecast.