Stelco Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Alan Kestenbaum expects steel prices to be able to rebound over the next six months. This comes after the company confirmed that it had fully booked shipments for the remainder of this year in addition to the first half of next year.
“What we saw maybe three weeks ago was weakness in pricing and demand, even just filing up the fourth quarter was difficult,” Kestenbaum stated in an interview. “Prices have turned and people don’t want to miss the bottom, so they’re trying to replenish inventories.”
Prices have fallen by over 50% throughout the course of the year as a result of falling demand. Steel prices have fallen by 15% in just the past three months alone, thereby making it difficult for steel producers to sell the materials required for auto manufacturing and construction.
Although Kestenbaum does not expect an “explosive year” in 2023, he does believe that signs indicate that the steel industry will improve compared to the current year. He believes that prices will experience a sharp uptick at the start of the year before mellowing out in the later months.